Thread: Ask me about martial arts

I'll ask some questions I suppose:

1. Is the martial arts that you learn in the studio (karate or tae kwon do or whatever, I'm not good with the official terms) actually helpful when fighting off attackers in, say, a street fight. It obviously wouldn't hurt but it seems that in a street fight they will just be attacking all out and will probably have a weapon. I just wondered since I have looked at some self-defense stuff online randomly now and then and one guy was saying that most self-defense stuff doesn't actually work and how he was king of the streets so you should buy his product (real humble guy). I guess you can look at it as either being trained or also as possibly having a false sense of security because you know basic karate (obviously with higher belts its different). I guess it's sort of like being trained in old wars where it was two sides lined up shooting at each other as opposed to nowadays where its civilian looking people throwing grenades and planting bombs.

2. How long does it take to progress through the belts. Do the first couple take less time than say going from a 2nd degree black belt to a 3rd degree. How many times a week and for how long does one usually study. How long does it take on average to get to black belt (I'm sure it varies greatly, but are we talking about a few years, 5 years, 10 years?).

Thanks

That "King of the street" guy is probably offering his techniques with the assumption that you already know martial arts. Lots of the techniques that are taught will not work, they are simple to show the students how joint locks and other techniques work. The ones that really work are taught later in training after that kind of knowledge is already second nature. The white / yellow belt "self defense" techniques have to be done slowly and just show the user and the victim how the body reacts to certain situations. The upper ranks one all work very well.

Of course this is done on a school by school basis. Tae kwon do is probably the worst style for real self defense, however my instructor here at school is the best self defense teacher I've ever had. His techniques work, and they have been tested. He trains cops and he is a cop.


Ranks depend on the style. Most styles and school you will have a black belt between four and seven years. In Shorin Ryu it took me four years for my first black belt, 2 more years for the next, and three more years after that. Obviously if you have experience you will go through the lower ranks very quickly.

What do you know about Kaju Kenbo and what are your opinions on it? I had a boss at my old job who is a 3rd degree black belt in it.

Also, I'm not sure if this is martial arts related, but have you ever known anyone who could do pushups where they are completely spread eagle on their stomach and doing pushups on only their fingertips and toes? I only know of one person who can do it and anyone he shows, even my old boss who does the one-handed pushups on 2 of his fingers, can't do it.

I'm quite the experienced martial artist myself, currently a second degree black belt in Taekwon-Do. Competitions (sparring) were my thing, and I was exceedingly good at it... That's not a question, just throwing it out there if any of you want to discuss . Anyways, what's your experience with Taekwon-Do? Were you affiliated to any federation (I'm with the ITF)?

I'm affiliated with South Central Tae Kwon Do. My instructor is grandmaster Ted Hillson.

I've never heard of that style of Kenbo, but I knew a guy who did it, it seemed pretty brutal, and seems like it would be effective on the street. I'm not sure what you mean by the pushups, from what you're describing it sounds like pushups on spearhands. I do those every so often. It's not that hard so I don't think that's what you mean.

Originally Posted by Idec Sdawkminn

What do you know about Kaju Kenbo and what are your opinions on it? I had a boss at my old job who is a 3rd degree black belt in it.

Also, I'm not sure if this is martial arts related, but have you ever known anyone who could do pushups where they are completely spread eagle on their stomach and doing pushups on only their fingertips and toes? I only know of one person who can do it and anyone he shows, even my old boss who does the one-handed pushups on 2 of his fingers, can't do it.

Bruce Lee is the only other person I've ever seen do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1I_agS_RAg

Mad props to that guy. That's impressive as hell.^

Yeah, I saw him do the Bruce Lee ones. But my dad used to work with me and he asked my boss to try his kind and he couldn't do it. My dad's the only one so far that we know of who can do them. He says it's more in your mind.

I've never heard of that style of Kenbo, but I knew a guy who did it, it seemed pretty brutal, and seems like it would be effective on the street.

Never heard of it but you knew a guy who did it...
I'm sorry, it's actually one word. Kajukenbo. Yeah, it should be effective on the street.

In 1947, Adriano D. Emperado and 4 other skilled martial artists: Joe Holck, Peter Young Yil Choo, George "Clarence" Chang, and Frank Ordonez, made a secret pact to combine their arts into a street fighting combination of their arts, which were:

Adriano Directo Emperado - Kenpo (Kosho Ryu) and Escrima
Joseph Holck - Jujutsu (Danzan Ryu)
Peter Young Yil Choo - Karate (Tang Soo Do) and Boxing
George "Clarence" Chuen Yoke Chang - Chinese Boxing (Chu'an Fa Kung-Fu)
Frank F. Ordonez - Judo (Se Keino Ryu)

aite, i ahve a question.
i want to learn martial arts, first of all I have no expereince in martial arts or any form of fighting, also, i live in area with very ltitle choice in martial art schools, if any.
First of all, I want to learn for one purpose only, self defense, not for comeptetion, for real combat.
Secondly, is there a martial art I could self teach? Through videos and such?
Any advice would be useful
Cheers.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I'm affiliated with South Central Tae Kwon Do. My instructor is grandmaster Ted Hillson.

Hmm, that school seems to be independant from either major international federation (ITF or WTF), which is often the case for many american schools I have found. I'm curious to know what your standards are like. For example, what are the rules for sparring, or what patterns do you learn? What are the requirements for advancing through the belts?

Imran, what martial arts schools are there in your area? Also, martial arts isn't really something you can self-teach, not least of which because half the time you need a partner...

I agree, you have to have a master instructor there helping you and a partner. The difference between executing a technique correctly and having it be useless can be just a slight variation.

As the instructors how they teach. All of them will do sport sparring, it's a training exercise, but some are heavier into self defense than others.

Sparring rules in SCTKD are non-contact, all upright point sparring. We don't stop for individual points like fencing or tang soo do, judges just write them down as we see them. Upper ranks are allowed to sweep and really high ranks can hit each other lightly.

To go through ranks there are usually three three steps and two or three forms that they need to know as well as showing proficiency in basics.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

That "King of the street" guy is probably offering his techniques with the assumption that you already know martial arts. Lots of the techniques that are taught will not work, they are simple to show the students how joint locks and other techniques work. The ones that really work are taught later in training after that kind of knowledge is already second nature. The white / yellow belt "self defense" techniques have to be done slowly and just show the user and the victim how the body reacts to certain situations. The upper ranks one all work very well.

Of course this is done on a school by school basis. Tae kwon do is probably the worst style for real self defense, however my instructor here at school is the best self defense teacher I've ever had. His techniques work, and they have been tested. He trains cops and he is a cop.


Ranks depend on the style. Most styles and school you will have a black belt between four and seven years. In Shorin Ryu it took me four years for my first black belt, 2 more years for the next, and three more years after that. Obviously if you have experience you will go through the lower ranks very quickly.

hi, im a second degree black belt in tae kwon do.
i agree that tae kwon do can be a really bad RL self defense martial art.
but, i think that only really applies to generational tae kwon do, which is the competition based one.
i do traditional tae kwon do, and also aikido, and id have to say, that trad. TKD is extremely effective (street wise), with aikido.

*edit* ps. my instructor, was taught personally by the highest ranked tae kwon do master in the world. i only found that out recently. the founder of TKD died a while back and this guy is the only official 9th dan BB to date.
and also, he lives in korea, with all the hot chicks. FTW!

Like I said, it all depends on what the instructor wants to teach. Your facts aren't entirely correct, my instructor was promoted to ninth dan over this summer, so there are is at least one more.

There is a student in my class who is a brown belt in tae kwon do and he learned olympic style sparring. He's very good with his feet, but is very susceptible to hand strikes and has a hard time with some of the other students his rank since we use a different set of sparring rules.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Like I said, it all depends on what the instructor wants to teach. Your facts aren't entirely correct, my instructor was promoted to ninth dan over this summer, so there are is at least one more.

There is a student in my class who is a brown belt in tae kwon do and he learned olympic style sparring. He's very good with his feet, but is very susceptible to hand strikes and has a hard time with some of the other students his rank since we use a different set of sparring rules.

I havent had contact with my instructor for a year.
I found out from my brother

Yeh, we use our feet a lot, so we are effective with stopping medium ranged melee attacks, and with aikido stopping and disabling moves made in fist range combat.

Also, i find it really cool that, in martial arts every instructor is branched off to the highest instructors, meaning every "proper" instructor connects all the schools together.

It seems martial arts, are getting more popular nowadays;
ironically, so are guns.

*edit* this seems appropriate.

Ive always been interested in chinese Kung fu. Since there aren't any schools in this area i bought a DVD for the Hung gar Tiger and Crane Form. How do I know I am doing it right without a teacher?

Where is a good place to practice? I've gone over a few sections of the form in the park lately and people just stare at me like I'm a maniac, and my living room isn't big enough to move through the entire form. any suggestions?

Without an instructor you won't know if you're doing it right. You can get a basic idea of the techniques and maybe make it hurt someone, but only an instructor will be able to tell you if you are doing them perfectly. Sometimes the difference between causing someone discomfort and causing them pain is a five degree rotation of the hip.

As for you forms, my apartment is far to small for my forms as well, when you get to the wall just take a few hops back.

Originally Posted by cloudWalker

i agree that tae kwon do can be a really bad RL self defense martial art.
but, i think that only really applies to generational tae kwon do, which is the competition based one.

You sure? I think putting the heel of my foot in somebody's face is pretty effective ...

Hey!

I'm a WTF Taekwondo red belt black tag, I have 2 1/2 years of experience. If I can find the time, I'm considering looking into trying out a second martial art, as I'd like to expand my horizon, and I generally love martial arts. Is this a good or bad idea? I know there is a possibility that I start to accidently mix them up, but it's tempting to try. I recently found out that there are Kung Fu (Shaolin) lessons being taught somewhere not too far from me.

I don't get mixed up and as stated in my first post I've done many styles. I think balancing standup and ground styles are good, so Kung Fu would be a good addition to TKD.

The TKD red black belt is only present in very select styles of TKD, they signify grandmasters (9th and 10th dans.) Not all do, my TKD instructor is a 9th degree black belt and he still wears black.

Thanks for the reply. Though the last part confused me. I'm a first cup/gup, my next grading is my 1st Dan (black belt) grading. At least here in Norway, and in my club/school, those who have a black belt and are under the age of 16 have a red and black belt, and a red and black collar. Their black belt levels are called Poom instead of Dan.

Another question: Do you have any suggestions on how I can get better at breaking? We have to do breaking for our black belt evaluation, which we have to pass to be allowed to grade. I've hardly done any breaking, and I suck at it. I'm mostly good at sidekick and elbow punches, but my front kick always strays, and I'm scared of breaking with a regular punch.

Never heard of the red and black stripes, maybe it's just some standard from your federation.

Breaking is hard to get good at without actually doing it. Do you have any rebreakable boards? I guess the advice I'll give is to just not be afraid of it and remember to go about six inches past the brick. Going through it doesn't hurt, if you stutter for a second and just hit it, it will hurt.

Practice lining up your kick better on a punching bag or a target. Take a tennis ball and dangle it from a string. Kick it.

I think the standard in TKD for first dan is two boards with a side kick. That should be like butter.

In ITF, there is a stripe (or bar) in between every belt colour (e.g. green belt < green belt with blue stripe < blue belt < blue belt with red stripe < red belt).

Breaks are a hard concept to grasp... The trick is to hit as fast as possible. Also, remember not to limit the motion to the part of the body that is doing the break, so if you're doing a punch, don't just use your arms, use your shoulders, your waist and basically propel all your body forward in one explosive move. What breaks exactly will you be doing? The technique varies greatly between breaks, and special techniques (jumping kicks) are a whole different thing too.

Ninja: Could ninjas back then really run on water?

Originally Posted by Oneironaut_Jeff777

Ninja: Could ninjas back then really run on water?

"Back then?"
We still can.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut_Jeff777

Ninja: Could ninjas back then really run on water?

No. Mythbusters did an exposé on it. They couldn't run on water. It was a bit of propoganda spread by them to instill fear in enemies etc. Anyway they could just swim across or use a small rowing boat.