Martial arts tips

[wab25]

Be humble! Stay humble!

There is always someone better than you are. Find that person and learn from them.

When an instructor shows you a new way to do something, that you can already do well, in the way you learned it... try the new way. Even if it means that you fail, and are not able to accomplish the technique. Learn to do the new way, the way the instructor is asking you to do. If you felt that the instructor was worth your time to get on the mat with, do yourself the favor of learning the new things from them. It will either add to your options, or develop better skill in a part of your technique. If you are going to go to the new instructor and just do it the way you always do.... there is no point in going to the new instructor.

When you are taught a new technique, use it in sparring. Even if that means the other guy can see it a mile away and counter it. This is part of the process of learning the technique.... You will fail, a lot, before you get good enough to apply it in a live situation. Don't avoid new techniques or techniques you are not good at when sparring.... be humble enough to try the things you need to work on, even if it means losing the sparring round to the newbie....

Doing something better, by definition means doing it differently than how you do it now. Be humble enough to keep changing how you do your techniques, because you need to change how you do them in order to improve them.

Be that guy, that the instructor corrects. Listen to what he tells you, and do it as best as you can. Instructors spend time helping people who want to be helped, who want to listen and want to change how they do things. It is not a bad thing when the instructor corrects you... it shows you that the instructor has decided to invest time into you. The more you accept, the more you will get.

 

[Krisxylove]

Instead of just going through a whole kata over and over, spend more time practicing individual sections of it over and over.
When practicing kihon, think of what you're doing as a drill and figure out what the drill is teaching you. A simple stepping reverse punch as done in kihon is teaching you way more than just how to throw a reverse punch.

I second this tip. At first I would only repeat the forms, and this was very useful to the extent of remembering what the actual movements in the form were. The real game changer for me was breaking down the individual movements and drilling them over and over

At first, the idea of training martial arts forms was very romantic. Until training started. It was awkward, uncoordinated, aches and pains came upon quickly. Then when some semblance of technique is achieved all romanticism is lost because training became drilling over and over, the same drills day after day. The weeks and months add up to years. I learn that like anything else this just comes down to hard work, consistency, dedication, patience and sacrifice. But one day you find yourself alone, under the moonlight, in the cold, quiet air, just enjoying the stars. Until without a thought you just spring into horse stance, it's firm. Transitioning to this punch, this step, this kick. Flowing like a ball rolling down a hill with no resistance. The forms are almost non existent in themselves as you're jumping the various techniques among all the forms without a second thought. The breath is connected, the mind is quiet. You are real, you are alive. Life is a wonderful gift and blessing. It's very romantic.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Never think about power or speed. Power and speed comes with technique. Think about technique.

Rule #1 of karate - don't get hit.

Learn distance. Yours will be different than mine. You learn distance by failing to have proper distance.

Practice what you suck at more than you practice what you're good at.

Nobody cares what techniques you used to defend yourself. Only whether or not you did it.

Mental requirements for successful self-defense include developing an ability to make rapid judgments about when and whether or not to engage. Second only to that is a willingness to engage. If you cannot figure out when to engage and when to walk away, or you are not willing to fight, you should consider another activity.

There is no first strike in karate. That doesn't mean wait to get hit. It means the moment you are attacked, defend yourself. An attack can be someone raising their hands to you or indicating that they intend you harm at that moment.

Stop staring at your phone.

 

[Gyakuto]

Use visualisation techniques to train when you’re not!

Research has shown that visualisation activates the virtually the same areas of the brain, forging the required pathways to improve performance, as actually performing the technique (except the motor cortex, of course). There are two modes of visualisation: external, as though you’re watching yourself in a video or mirror and internal…our usual view. Imagine yourself doing a technique and make that visualisation as rich as possible. Fill it with sensory information, the way your muscles feel, how your dōgi feels on your body, the sound of you moving even the smells around you. The richer you can make that image with detail, the better it isn’t firing those neurones and strengthening the synapses. It’s difficult at first so do it slowly and you will become slicker at rich visualisation.

Spend 10 minutes before you go to sleep, lying in bed, visualising those difficult movements. and you will improve.

 

[Gyakuto]

Stop staring at your phone.

Amen! It’s a plague!

 

[Gyakuto]

When you’re waiting for the kettle to boil or are ‘…5th in the queue’ on a help line, practise your footwork. A tricky bit in a kata, manipulating the centreline in Iai whatever you find challenging. You have a few minutes to fill and you’re not going to waste it on your phone, are you?

 

[drop bear]

Bruce Lee got his finger quote backwards.

Don't concentrate on the finger. Instead look at the incredible set of events that got the finger there in the first place.

 

[Stuarto]

Wear a thigh brace, it will help you to not pull a hammy (I know from experience )

 

[marvin8]

Shaolin Abbott: What is the highest technique you hope to achieve?
Bruce Lee: To have no technique.

Create opportunity by asking the opponent for a reaction. When the opponent can't change, change (timing). Technique is useless unless you execute it with correct timing.

Shaolin Abbott: Very good. What are your thoughts when facing an opponent?
Bruce Lee: There is no opponent.
Shaolin Abbott: And why is that ?
Bruce Lee: Because the word "I" does not exist.

I have no intent nor ego.

Shaolin Abbott: So, continue...
Bruce Lee: A good fight should be like a small play but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.

A good fight includes a beginning and middle not only an end (finishing technique). I use yin-yang not only force. My entry should be technically sound. I should not rely on speed and power to enter. My correct structure (six harmonies) hits.

 

[mograph]

Use visualisation techniques to train when you’re not!

Research has shown that visualisation activates the virtually the same areas of the brain, forging the required pathways to improve performance, as actually performing the technique (except the motor cortex, of course). There are two modes of visualisation: external, as though you’re watching yourself in a video or mirror and internal…our usual view. Imagine yourself doing a technique and make that visualisation as rich as possible. Fill it with sensory information, the way your muscles feel, how your dōgi feels on your body, the sound of you moving even the smells around you. The richer you can make that image with detail, the better it isn’t firing those neurones and strengthening the synapses. It’s difficult at first so do it slowly and you will become slicker at rich visualisation.

Spend 10 minutes before you go to sleep, lying in bed, visualising those difficult movements. and you will improve.

Absolutely.

I'd add that while much popular motivational literature encourages us to visualize the prize, while we should visualize the technique, not the reward. In other words, visualize the strikes, not the podium.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When your Muay Thai coach says gear up. That also means the cup. lol

 

[Tigerwarrior]

Some movements are alot more than meets the eye. You might look like you are doing it correct in your mirror or video, but a trained instructor can teach you the little nuances to improve it. For instance: torso movement for roundhouse punches. My old instructor left out the small nuance don't turn your lower torso, turn your upper torso and shoulders. It feels more natural to do a full rotation... but they have some valid reasons for not doing it. It's also only a drill, in a real fight I'm thinking full rotation would generate power. I think it's more to loosen up the upper torso and to get used to using momentum to punch for you instead of throwing muscled hook punches. Think a towel snap.

 

[Gyakuto]

Improve your balance with daily use of a wobble board. Having impeccable balance will bring your martial arts skill along in leaps and bounds. Much of what we do involves holding or transitioning our centre of balance over one foot so building rock-solid proprioception and an iron vestibular system is vital. Just standing on a wobble board is challenging for most, but 10 minutes, twice a day will improve you balance and it is transferable to martial arts. It is especially important as one ages; balance deteriorates with increasing age making one more susceptible to falls and serious fractures!

Tips for use:

1) When balancing on both feet, line your ankles up with the diameter line.
2) When balancing on one foot, line the centre point between your lateral and media malleolus (or the talus) above the boards centre.