# Street Clothes, Change of Environment?



## HKphooey (May 19, 2006)

There was already a thread in the General Martial Arts area, http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20030&highlight=street+clothes, asking about plain clothes training.  

As we examine stances, techniques and form throught out the Kenpo/Kempo Technical Discussion, we talk about perfect execution of a technique or stance.  Most of the time we are talking about the situation in the dojo while wearing karate gi's.  

Do any of you train in street clothes, outside, in real-life settings? Have the attackers attack in a more surprising manner or on a sligthly different angle? In the dojo, things can get to scripted and the attacks become too repititious.  Things change dramatically when the environment is modified. 

Thoughts on this?  Training ideas?  I would love to hear 'em.

Thanks


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## HKphooey (May 21, 2006)

Anyone?.....


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## MJS (May 21, 2006)

HKphooey said:
			
		

> There was already a thread in the General Martial Arts area, http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20030&highlight=street+clothes, asking about plain clothes training.
> 
> As we examine stances, techniques and form throught out the Kenpo/Kempo Technical Discussion, we talk about perfect execution of a technique or stance. Most of the time we are talking about the situation in the dojo while wearing karate gi's.
> 
> ...


 
I've had some of my best workouts out in the backyard, wearing jeans, sneakers and a tshirt.  Training outside not only has the benefit of uneven ground, but you also get a different feel to movement.  In the dojo, wearing a loose fitting gi, is fine, but in real life, movements can easily be restricted by what you're wearing.  

Building a spontaneous reaction to attacks is also something thats good to work on.  Once the foundation of the movements is built, the student eventually should get to the point where they don't have to rely on thinking about a move, but instead just reacting.

Another benefit to outdoor training, is the use of some of the many nautral weapons.  Sand, rocks, a branch, etc. are all things that can be used to aid in a SD situation, that are not found in the dojo.

Mike


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## Kacey (May 21, 2006)

HKphooey said:
			
		

> There was already a thread in the General Martial Arts area, http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20030&highlight=street+clothes, asking about plain clothes training.
> 
> As we examine stances, techniques and form throught out the Kenpo/Kempo Technical Discussion, we talk about perfect execution of a technique or stance.  Most of the time we are talking about the situation in the dojo while wearing karate gi's.
> 
> ...



I don't practice Kenpo, I practice TKD, but periodically we have a street clothes class - the only restriction is that, for the safety of my students, the shoes have to be strapped on (no sandals or clogs) so no one is hit by a flying shoe.  Then we discuss that anyone in such a situation in that type of shoe is probably better off barefoot than trying to keep their shoes on while kicking.  The class is then spent working on holsinsul (self-defense).

Since I teach at a YMCA, finding outdoor facilities for class is harder - but we have a picnic every year, and before the food we work out in the park... of course, we clean the area first; not everyone curbs their dogs!


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## Rick Wade (May 21, 2006)

Every class for us is street cloths actually you can wear what ever you want as long as you are wearing a cup.

V/R

Rick


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## Michael Billings (May 21, 2006)

We all wear gi pants, and T-Shirts or gi tops.  When we grapple or kickbox it is tank tops and shorts.  Shoes can be worn in class, but in the summer generally we are barefoot.

I have done many camps and classes in street clothes, but not recently.  I think I will do one in the near future just to see what it looks like with my new students.

-Michael


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## Carol (May 21, 2006)

My school has some fun in the summer, we'll have days where we permit street clothes or street clothes with a theme (wearing Red White and lbue, or wearing Red Sox-themed clothes)   I do wish my school had days where it was at least optional to be able in street clothes.  

The cut of a gi is designed more around a man's body and I don't have a build that is anything close to resembling that.  Ties and drawstrings can cinch the gi tighter around my waist but do nothing for the other differences in physique, such as my legs being markedly thinner than a man's.   

I've been settling in to one size of uniform pants and a different size uniform jacket to get a closer fit to the clothes that I am most likely to be wearing while I'm out and about.


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## eyebeams (May 22, 2006)

I've never used a gi. Some grapplers swear by them as a way of improving grip strength and technical grappling, though. I'd say that friction on the floor, ankle support and binding pants are the things that make the biggest differences.


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## Ross (May 22, 2006)

eyebeams said:
			
		

> I've never used a gi. Some grapplers swear by them as a way of improving grip strength and technical grappling, though. I'd say that friction on the floor, ankle support and binding pants are the things that make the biggest differences.


 
We wear a traditional heavyweight gi but most of us wear trainers for several reasons. One being that it is very different moving wearing trainers rather than barefoot. Generally if I'm going to be attacked it wont be while I'm barefoot walking along.


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## HKphooey (May 22, 2006)

Thanks for the posts so far.  I used to be part of a martial arts study group (8 guys from all different styles).  We found that many techniques form each of our styles were difficult to perform when in jeans or if we had on bulky winter clothes.  I found it especially hard to execute some of my kenpo techniques.  It was much harder to move fast with a winter coat on (I can just imagine if I had on a sports coat ).  

The major difference I felt, was when I had on shoes (not sneakers).  Many do not have very good traction.  You would think it would be easier to establish a strong base, but I found it hard to do.


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## kempo108 (May 22, 2006)

we normally wear gis, but i will pick a day were i tell all of the students to wear street clothes. i take the adult class outside in the back parking lot. we work on drills and no-mind near the dumpster, potholes, cars (our own), walls, etc. this helps get away from the sometimes scripted techniques. we also do a lot of role playing inside and outside.


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