Martial arts discussion thread

[5FDP]

My daughter officially had her first Karate class last night. She loved it! It helped that it was a small class of girls only between the ages of 7 and 10.

[GoktimusPrime]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/a...inal-gangsters
^An interesting article about the high level of urban violence in 19th Century Britain, which gave rise to British martial arts like Bartitsu. The martial art of "Baritsu" in Sherlock Holmes is based on the real-life Victorian martial art of Bartitsu.

[GoktimusPrime]

Mental Floss: misconceptions about exercise; the ones that I find most relevant for martial arts (or at least, some martial arts schools/practitioners that I've dealt with) are:

#3: Stretching prevents injury
As the video says, warm-ups are still important for injury prevention, just not static-stretching, which may have adverse effects. IMO stretching is better suited for cooling down at the end of a training session.

#8: Cardio burns more kilojoules than weight training
...and yet half the Karate instructors that I've had wouldn't allow me to use strap-on wrist and ankle weights during training. Both my Chen and Yang Tai Chi teachers were fine with it (in fact, it was standard practice where I learnt Chen Tai Chi), and some of my Karate teachers were cool with; but others were dead-set against the idea, including the head/Shihan of the Gojuryu Karate Dojo that I went to... despite the fact that traditional Karate incorporated weight training. Tai Chi forms are practised very slowly, and practising them with weights strapped to your wrists and ankles can give you a pretty good burn. But you don't have to be a Tai Chi practitioner to try this; anyone who practises a martial art that has forms (kata, poomsae etc.) can try this; just be sure to move slowly; especially when throwing punches and kicks. Slowly extend and retract your arms and legs each time, rather than "snapping" them out, because in doing that you're letting momentum do half the work for you instead of your muscles. Even practising forms slowly without weights will still have a similar effect (because your limbs have mass and are thus naturally weighted), but obviously adding weights to them will increase the benefit.

#10: No pain, no gain
Yup. Massive myth. We might say no strain no gain, but actual pain is not a good thing. In Tai Chi I was always taught to push until it strains -- it should be uncomfortable and nearly hurts, but not to the point where it actually hurts. The same holds true even for endurance conditioning exercises. I've met guys who just brutally bash at each other right from the outset, regardless of what your level is, justifying that it's "no pain, no gain." In legal reality, it's dereliction of duty of care. Just as the video link correctly shows, it should begin fairly gently as a series of 'bumps.' Then as your endurance improves, you increase speed and strength. It's the same as any other kind of conditioning -- you don't start at the top! The idea of getting novices to smash into each other is akin to getting a person who's new at weights to lift 100kg. And if those people think that smashing each other is a great way to toughen up, then why not just hammer each other with cricket bats? </cheek>

[Hot Rodimus]

Think you missed the point with no#8. Doing forms or kata with ankle and wrists weights may make it challenging but it really isn't what they are referring to and in this case you would be better of going for a run.

I can only surmise they are referring to a well programed workout routine with weights and a proper set and rep scheme for strength or mass or the other side of the scale which is a high intensity interval circuit with weights (or even body weight resistance).

The above methods combined with proper nutrition will burn more kilojoules and make you look good, instead of the skinny/skinny fat look that someone who only does cardio may have.

[GoktimusPrime]

There is a traditional Okinawan Karate seminar happening in mid February in a North-Western suburb of Sydney. Registration for attendance/participation is already closed, but they are looking for interpreters because they've got several Karate masters flying in directly from Okinawa, Japan for this seminar. I offered to interpret on the Sunday as I'm busy on the Saturday, but they've insisted on having the same interpreters for both days -- so I'm out. But if anyone else is able and willing to lend a hand, please drop me a PM and I'll forward the Kanchou's contact details to you. It sounds like a good opportunity to experience some authentic Okinawan Karate.

[Bartrim]

last night I had my first BJJ lesson in about 2 years...

I am sore today

[GoktimusPrime]

<sympathetic.nod> I know that feeling.

[Sinnertwin]

last night I had my first BJJ lesson in about 2 years...

I am sore today

i had to read that twice

[Bartrim]

The UFC is planning an event in Adelaide so Tom Wright who is the director of operations for the UFC in Australia went on an Adelaide radio show to promote the event. He received a very ignorant attack from radio host David Penberthy. I was very impressed by how calm Tom remained during the "interview". What really grinds my gears is how ignorant this radio personality was and how was unwilling to change his view when facts were presented to him.

http://mmakanvas.ninemsn.com.au/arti...adio-host.html

[GoktimusPrime]

I've started a blog about martial arts here. The first article is just a basic history of Karate (as well as Taekwondo and Hapkido). Bear in mind that this is only meant to be a basic history of Karate (and even more basic history of TKD and HKD), but the aim is just to separate fact from fiction in regard to some misconceptions that a lot of people have about these martial arts (re: historical accuracy).

I intend to be writing similar articles about other martial arts styles in the near future.