GJEC
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Post by GJEC on Jan 21, 2014 11:24:27 GMT -5
Touched on this in the Ashihara thread.
The rules are entirely secondary to the mindset required.
So find the ruleset you prefer and then fight to win. It's only by finding that spirit, determination, ethos or whatever you call it that you can get the best out of yourself.
So the competition is just an environment where you bring it out. So many never win at the top level despite being technically good enough and extremely fit. They just don't back themselves to win under pressure. Find that belief - in any ruleset - and you're going to be formidable.
Gary
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Jan 22, 2014 5:00:27 GMT -5
Post by senshido on Jan 22, 2014 5:00:27 GMT -5
Amen!
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GJEC
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Jan 22, 2014 10:02:51 GMT -5
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Post by GJEC on Jan 22, 2014 10:02:51 GMT -5
Thanks! It makes me smile when 'experts' don't get this. Forums abound with people telling us what skills will or will not work, or tinkering with stuff to make it 'more practical'. Few acknowledge that skill without the right mindset is worthless. Gary
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Jan 22, 2014 22:38:52 GMT -5
Post by powerof0ne on Jan 22, 2014 22:38:52 GMT -5
Another reason why I don't believe in Krav Maga..but I do believe in training under a Krav Maga instructor that was IDF with real experience using the skills. Train under a legit knockdown karate instructor that has experience fighting, bouncing, and you'll be surprised what "real life" skills and applications there are in karate (where do you think Krav Maga techniques come from?!). Why I'm also a huge advocate of any black belt to actually have some knockdown tournament experience. Sure, there are exceptions to this, but I believe that competition, brings out the best in everybody...eventually. Non compliant kumite/randori is the way to go. This also doesn't mean always "beat the shit" out of eachother in every class. There might be some "obvious" contradictions in what I say, but it's honestly just common sense in my honest opinion. Believe it or not, I started in karate, believing every damn word my sensei said.. I even got in my first "after school" fight keeping my fists to my side like I was doing tsuki in kihon practice! I was the most "technical" karateka I ever knew (I mean in how I treated karate, I was no Fumio Demura!), in the fact, I was very analytical, tried to perfect my kata and thought that kata held all the answers. It wasn't until I hit 16-17, that I found the more "natural" I did kumite, and the more common sense I used..focusing on my strengths to help me, that I actually started to become a decent fighter. For quite a few years, I actually tried to show others this, wanting them to "see the light." That's not to say that I believe kata is rubbish, I don't. If kata truly works for you, and you're training in a practical way with it, it can work. I just believe that learning a new kata without really applying it, only for rank promotion is a waste. To get back on track, I would take a legit knockdown karateka black belt into a fight against multiple fighters over a non-trained "street fighter" just about any day. There are hardly any "real" street fighters around any more that can actually fight worth a damn...at least in the USA. The new generation is all about cowardly jumping somebody. Sorry if I got too much off topic . Osu!
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GJEC
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Post by GJEC on Jan 23, 2014 7:12:17 GMT -5
No apology neccessary To me it's not about getting ready to defend ourselves or batter someone, it's about getting your mind right and getting that ferocious mentality. By that I mean controlled aggression, not a red mist. Once we have a mind that will keep us going until the end, without even considering giving up, we're about there. It doesn't matter how many kata we know or how much we bench. "The final weapon is the brain, all else is supplementary". Gary
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evergrey
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Get over yourself, mate.
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Jan 26, 2014 13:22:19 GMT -5
Post by evergrey on Jan 26, 2014 13:22:19 GMT -5
Ya know, I was kind of hoping for a little bit of red mist during my fight. Or at least adrenaline! My opponent was so scared and looking for reassurance and guidance, and I guess I was "supposed" to exploit that and scare her more- but I just couldn't! I wanted to protect her, and teach her, haha! So I am not even sure I got much adrenaline. I didn't really feel any pain from her strikes, but I think that's more a case of her being an untrained "street fighter" than anything. She did put her heart into it! But yeah. That really really threw me.
Hoping it will be different against a trained fighter...
I have been in a situation where I had to defend myself for real, though. More than once, as an adult. All against would-be rapists. This was also all before I got any training.
That red mist came in spades, then, haha! They all failed. I guess they were looking for a victim, not something that would become furious and try to eat their spleen.
I try to strike a balance between trying my own things where I can experiment and fight what works for me, and listening to my instructors, who have the experience to know when something I am trying is a really bad idea.
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GJEC
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Jan 26, 2014 13:29:11 GMT -5
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Post by GJEC on Jan 26, 2014 13:29:11 GMT -5
It's all about controlled aggression and seeing nerves as a good thing as they mean the body is getting ready for the challenge.
Red mist has it's place but not where we have to follow rules and pay attention to a referee.
Gary
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Jan 27, 2014 16:58:48 GMT -5
Post by jellyfish292001 on Jan 27, 2014 16:58:48 GMT -5
For me it's about focus not red mist. I also came to the realisation that if anyone gets on the mat it is my job to respect them for being there and that means fighting as strong and as well as I can. To do less would be to suggest they can't beat me. That means you can stay within the rules but not worry about holding back. If I injure someone or hurt them enough to stop I don't feel good about that but I recognise that if they could have done it to me they would have and it is the nature of the game. I strangely enough feel at my calmest when fighting it helps get the flow. People always think I am mad when I say that when it going well it all slows down but that is how it is for me. I also stick to kyokushin rules because I think to have to consider other rules would ruin that flow for me. As Gary said it is about what is right for you as a fighter. Cheryll
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Jan 27, 2014 20:56:27 GMT -5
Post by powerof0ne on Jan 27, 2014 20:56:27 GMT -5
All of my competition experience was with shin pads, fist protectors (cotton, not foam dipped) until I was 18 and did my first Muay Thai fight...less than a year later, I fought in a Seattle Sabaki tournament, full knockdown. Fortunately, I was in a gym that I tell many, was like the wild wild west...many had their noses broken, KO'd, etc. My first 6 months of Muay Thai (the previous year I won nationals in karate and was en route to jr. olympics and world championship in Budapest) "woke me up," and not in a gentle manner. I never trained with head gear in Muay Thai...I was the only teenager in that gym, everybody else were adults. The instructor was still fighting professionally in Japan, Belarus, Australia, etc..I got the shit beat out of me every 6 months but I stubbornly knew that if I was getting beat up so much, I was in the right place. Six months later, everything "clicked" and I was able to start applying my karate in my Muay Thai. Not even 2 years later, I was made the assistant instructor, also promoted to shodan in Chokushinkai. Funny thing is I only started at this gym because my karate dojo went out of business. I went from "classical karate" to Muay Thai, to a crash course in knockdown. I later refined knockdown karate that I was taught and focused more on that. I was able to adapt from karate to Muay Thai to knockdown karate...why I often will say I learned knockdown karate by accidentally "reverse engineering" it. If I only started out in Kyokushinkai to begin with, it would have made my life much more easier!
Speaking to Wullie a few weeks ago, I coincidentally found out a lot of how he promotes his students is how I promote my students...but at first, I was very technical, meaning I wanted them all to have flawless kihon and kata. If you see students of mine now, some will kick in a more Thai or "Dutch" way, some in a more Japanese way. I would PREFER that they learn and perfect all the ways but have found out that if you show students different ways of performing techniques, they will pick what they like. For many months I actually was upset when I taught, because I kept telling them to also kick "this way" and "that way." However, they were effective in kumite, and some of the worst offenders did well in tournaments for how little time they trained under me. I'm more about results, so I slowly let it slide and accepted it.
Many many years ago, my sensei noticed that I payed a lot of attention to black belts at tournaments. The advice he gave me which I didn't really understand until 20+ years later was that "watch and appreciate black belts, but don't copy their habits." Honestly, I think this applies for many black belts, and some of the greatest fighters have the worst habits but they work for them..doesn't mean they will for you.
p.s. I was a black belt in a style of karate before I took Muay Thai, and picked up a few more ranks along the way. However, I'm just an average guy that can fight, that's spent most of my life being a "karate dork." Osu!
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