3 Things I Learned This Week

[lianxi]

I've been practicing martial arts for over 30 yrs and now at 64 yrs old am without a teacher, students or partner and I enjoy the freedom of practicing solo. This week I learned, or was reminded of 3 important things that I thought I'd share -

1 - Martial arts IS about fighting - Joining martialtalk this week, I'd asked for preferred techniques to block or parry a straight-in punch. Since I don't spar or fight anymore, I wanted advice from those who do and found it here - it was enlightening and reminded me that despite my personal approach to martial arts practice - I'm 64 - (health, energy, flexibility and personal expression) it IS about fighting and there are laws of physics and techniques that work and make sense - check out that post to read the brilliant responses I received here.

2 - You can't be or do everything as a martial artist. There are things I love to watch others do in a video, moves or techniques that inspire me, take away my breath, and make me love the world of martial arts, even though it's something that I personally could never do. There are many, but this week it was finding a clip of Rose Namajunas' flying armbar against Kathina Catron - wow. Maybe you have to be 115 lbs to do something like that - you also have to be Rose.

3 - Let some fresh air into your martial arts life. Like many here at martialtalk - my practice is a way of life as important as any spiritual or life path, so it's serious to me, but I was reminded to relax my outlook a little and enjoy the path after finding a couple of videos of Master Ken (enjoy the dojo) - 100 Hits in 1 Second and The Ultimate BJJ Escape.

Look forward to more exchanges on this great forum!

 

[skribs]

1 - Martial arts IS about fighting - Joining martialtalk this week, I'd asked for preferred techniques to block or parry a straight-in punch. Since I don't spar or fight anymore, I wanted advice from those who do and found it here - it was enlightening and reminded me that despite my personal approach to martial arts practice - I'm 64 - (health, energy, flexibility and personal expression) it IS about fighting and there are laws of physics and techniques that work and make sense - check out that post to read the brilliant responses I received here.

The way I see it, there are four main reasons people do martial arts: expression, sport, combat, and wellness. Expression would be for the demonstrations and movies, and arts that are very pretty or very form-based are definitely good here. Sport is anything with a competition, such as boxing, muay-thai, MMA, wrestling, etc. Combat is for self defense, police work, or military, and can be found in any art but some arts specialize in it. And wellness is what you're talking about - the physical and mental well-being of health, energy, flexibility, and also your attitude and outlook on life.

So you're in it for wellness and expression, others are in it for sport and combat.

2 - You can't be or do everything as a martial artist. There are things I love to watch others do in a video, moves or techniques that inspire me, take away my breath, and make me love the world of martial arts, even though it's something that I personally could never do. There are many, but this week it was finding a clip of Rose Namajunas' flying armbar against Kathina Catron - wow. Maybe you have to be 115 lbs to do something like that - you also have to be Rose.

Similarly, I want to know how to punch...and kick...and use other alternative strikes...and grapple....and groundfight...and fight with weapons...and fight against weapons...and know every form that's ever existed in martial arts...and do 720 kicks and triple/quad jumping kicks...and...and...you get the idea.

Yes, it sucks that I don't know a dozen martial arts. Right now I know about one and a half. If only we could be like Neo from The Matrix and just have our martial arts skills downloaded.

3 - Let some fresh air into your martial arts life. Like many here at martialtalk - my practice is a way of life as important as any spiritual or life path, so it's serious to me, but I was reminded to relax my outlook a little and enjoy the path after finding a couple of videos of Master Ken (enjoy the dojo) - 100 Hits in 1 Second and The Ultimate BJJ Escape.

I've had to tell a few of my older students to calm down and have fun every once in a while. My favorite Master Ken videos are his "Master Ken vs. The Karate Hottie" (where he explains what's wrong with the traditional "ax kick"), the Enter the Dojo episode that covers "You Jitsu" (as the most powerful martial artist in the world, the only person I have left to fear is myself), and his Kenpo is Bull**** video (because the actor is a 2nd degree black belt in kenpo).

I actually found a video (linked) where he did a class at a martial arts school in Britain for someone's birthday party. Royce Gracie was there, and he told him on a few of his grappling techniques that he should watch and learn and maybe apply these Ameri-Do-Te techniques to BJJ.

The thing that worries me most about some of Master Ken's stuff is...it works. For example, he was showing all sorts of 2-hand-grab escapes you *could* do, but then showed that if they have two hands grabbing your one, then you just punch them in the face with the other. There's also a few applications of the Thrust of Freedom that actually look like techniques or drills we do in our classes. For example, the Thrust Right is used in a lot of our Judo throws, and the Thrust Back is used in our body grabs (and one combination he showed is eerily similar to ours).

 

[Danny T]

1. Martial Arts is about using fighting as a teaching tool for imparting many life skills that have nothing to do with fighting as much as it has to do with fighting.


2. Very true and though I'm not quite as aged as you...
There are a lot of things I no longer do today that I did quite well 40 years ago.
There are several things I no longer do today because I've come to realize spending time training something I will never do or use is a waste of time.
There are several things I do today even though I will never use them simply because I find it fun and it's exciting when someone younger sees me doing it they are inspired to do so as well and it is something they can use.

3. Have fun. Don't take yourself so seriously that you and others aren't having fun. Laugh at yourself. The martial arts lifestyle can be comical as well as deadly.

 

[Buka]

I've been practicing martial arts for over 30 yrs and now at 64 yrs old am without a teacher, students or partner and I enjoy the freedom of practicing solo. This week I learned, or was reminded of 3 important things that I thought I'd share -

1 - Martial arts IS about fighting - Joining martialtalk this week, I'd asked for preferred techniques to block or parry a straight-in punch. Since I don't spar or fight anymore, I wanted advice from those who do and found it here - it was enlightening and reminded me that despite my personal approach to martial arts practice - I'm 64 - (health, energy, flexibility and personal expression) it IS about fighting and there are laws of physics and techniques that work and make sense - check out that post to read the brilliant responses I received here.

2 - You can't be or do everything as a martial artist. There are things I love to watch others do in a video, moves or techniques that inspire me, take away my breath, and make me love the world of martial arts, even though it's something that I personally could never do. There are many, but this week it was finding a clip of Rose Namajunas' flying armbar against Kathina Catron - wow. Maybe you have to be 115 lbs to do something like that - you also have to be Rose.

3 - Let some fresh air into your martial arts life. Like many here at martialtalk - my practice is a way of life as important as any spiritual or life path, so it's serious to me, but I was reminded to relax my outlook a little and enjoy the path after finding a couple of videos of Master Ken (enjoy the dojo) - 100 Hits in 1 Second and The Ultimate BJJ Escape.

Look forward to more exchanges on this great forum!

I so liked reading that.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Great post. Something I learned after coming to Martial Talk is to better understand others' motivations in MA. I have a new appreciation for folks who are only interested in competition or only interested in just doing the MA for its own value, rather than learning for self-defense purposes. I've found those people are just as serious, just as skilled (in their arena), and just as foolish as I am.

Kinda cool.

 

[lianxi]

gpseymour - I couldn't agree more. There are so many aspects to martial arts for me - if I were a young man and just starting out - where a fight could mean life or death - ie - law enforcement, military, urban streets - I'd study krav maga. If focused on the MMA I'd train in boxing, BJJ, wrestling, etc. - but at 64 and knowing what I learned from non-martial training, I'd certainly support all of that training with yoga, chi kung and circle walking - they help everything. I respect what a Navy Seal might have to do, or what a UFC fighter has to be able to endure, but I also respect what Ge ChunYan is able to do with Baguazhang. For me, every style, especially the training - reinforces and elevates everything else you might take on - it's simple cross-training I suppose. I think any approach to martial arts is valid IF it keeps you engaged enough to train regularly and meets your needs. And yeah - the sharing on this site is so excellent for that very reason.

 

[skribs]

Great post. Something I learned after coming to Martial Talk is to better understand others' motivations in MA. I have a new appreciation for folks who are only interested in competition or only interested in just doing the MA for its own value, rather than learning for self-defense purposes. I've found those people are just as serious, just as skilled (in their arena), and just as foolish as I am.

Kinda cool.

Hey, I am A LOT more foolish than you!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Things that I have learned in my life.

1. I do because I love to do it and not because I have to do it.
2. If I do something today, I want to make sure that I can and will still do that 30 years from today.
3. It's always fun to find something that I'm not very good at it before and try to make it good today or tomorrow.

I like Martial Talk forum. People here don't talk much about "abstract" stuff.

My main interest in MA is how to

- enter safely (without being kick/punch/knee/elbow), and
- finish fast.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hey, I am A LOT more foolish than you!

Then you must be far more skilled, too.

 

[skribs]

Then you must be far more skilled, too.

Probably. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

I'm also by far one of the humblest people you'll ever meet.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Probably. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

I'm also by far one of the humblest people you'll ever meet.

You know, we have that in common. I tell my friends that all the time.

 

[skribs]

You know, we have that in common. I tell my friends that all the time.

My Dad was taking a self-assessment that asked you to rate your personality traits on a scale from 1-10. He thought "humility" was a trick question.

 

[Flying Crane]

I’m probably the best that I know of.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I’m probably the best that I know of.

Yeah, but how much do you really know, FC?

 

[Flying Crane]

Yeah, but how much do you really know, FC?

Or to put it another way, we can quote dialogue from the great Batman serial:

Robin: “gee Batman, is there anything you don’t know?”

Batman: “why yes Robin, several things in fact...”