Martial Arts Thread

Took my third bogu exam in kendo today.

It didn't go well.

Reasons are not loud enough in my kiai, my Do is not good due to my arms not being straight when doing it coupled with on/off suburi.

Hopefully it won't be the nth time that I fail. Otherwise, I may just quit and sell my bogu.

Been doing Aikido, Taekwondo and Karate since I was little. Only got belts in the first.

Tim Hague died Sunday after he was put into a critical condition from a knock out in a fight in Canada.

edited 19th Jun '17 1:51:35 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Ouch.

Heh. One of the few guys from Finland who has studied Shaolin Kung Fu (the actual thing, not modern Wushu) just published a book about his adventures, when he first went to China after high school. Haven't read it, but judging by the description and his regular posts over the years on a Finnish martial arts forum, the experience was harrowing. He goes to China almost every year to learn more, but recommends to everyone not to do what he did and rather learn it somewhere else if they can.

Yesterday I went to my first BJJ lesson. It turned out that there was a free class not too far away from my place.

My God, I loved the crap out of it. Before the class, I would just go to gym and sometimes use the punching bag with handwraps on, but this? It's the closest I can get into actual fighting! Well, during 5 sparring matches (or rolling) I won only one round and only because the other guy was going easy on me. I won by rear naked choke, btw.

I can just see how BJJ used to be practically unbeatable during the early years of MMA. It's just so damn complicated. Of course, not that fighters with wrestling base had too much problem.

Started practicing a Filipino martial art called Baraw Sugbo, along with an occasional lesson in Libre and Piper knife systems. Fun, if a bit perverse.

edited 29th Jun '17 12:59:17 AM by TerminusEst

Glad you found something that works for you and you can practice with others, dRoy! Hopefully you'll be able to keep going with it and will continue to find it worthwhile.

...So I'm in a very embarrassing situation where after only two sessions I'm taking a break from BJJ. I got into this really damn strong gi choke called 'bow and arrow choke.' I missed my timing to tap and as a result I have a sore throat that is lasting since last Wednesday. Nothing too bad, but whenever I swallow something it has this uncomfortable feeling.

I'm actually not even entirely sure if this sore throat is result of the choke or me just getting a cold. I should really go see a doctor.

Coreeda: The Martial Arts of Aboriginal Australians Combining Dance and Wrestling

Why Connor MacGregor is no match for Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match.

The first point, about Connor lowering his off hand while going to throw a punch, is really a cardinal sin in boxing. I'm going to use a short gif to illustrate why.

Gif◊

So what happens here? Golovkin (white trunks) and Lemieux (purple trunks) both go to throw the same punch, the left hook, at the same time. Golovkin, a supremely well trained and disciplined boxer who has been in the ring since he was a boy, (much like Floyd has been) keeps his right hand up high while throwing his left, so Lemieux' punch gets blocked by his arm/glove resulting in Golovkin taking no damage.

Lemieux, meanwhile, (who came to boxing late and fights in a less skilled/disciplined manner than Golovkin) drops his right hand at the last second while concentrating on throwing his left, leaving the perfect opening for Golovkin's left to smash him in the face. (Here's the full footage of the original exchange, which is worth seeing just for the ref's reaction face.)

And Lemieux didn't even drop his hand by much, barely at all, in fact, especially compared to how Connor has his non-punching hand down by his hip. And Mayweather, as much as I loathe him, is one of the best defensive fighters to ever enter the ring, an absolute master of punishing great fighters after he makes them miss by an inch or two and taking advantage of split second openings.

Unless Mayweather's age suddenly catches up to him, this is a complete mismatch. But knowing Mayweather's career, especially across the pas decade, I wouldn't expect anything less. Mayweather has consistently taken the absolute minimum risk possible and stacked the deck in his favor as much as he could, including refusing to fight his top competition, waiting for his rivals to get old, slow, or lose before fighting them, fighting guys at weight classes unfamiliar to the, etc. Taking on a MMA fighter in a boxing match and taking the money of suckers is just one more example in a long litany of them.

edited 28th Jul '17 7:24:04 AM by TheWanderer

Something that was made in Finland:

It was developed from research into military combatives in the modern era and the experiences of the instructors as well. Primarily, using the Do or Die manual of the USMC from 1944, the modern MCMAP manual and the Finnish close combat manual (Lähtst-opas). Of course, other stuff exists as well as things have developed.

edited 3rd Sep '17 6:40:46 AM by TerminusEst

The barrel strikes with the rifle and the sentry take downs are pretty familiar.

Started doing Kashima-shinryu, one of the oldest extant martial art schools in Japan. Finland is a weird place, you can find a number of classical schools all over the place.

The body positioning, handling of the sword and everything else are quite different to anything I've done before.

edited 13th Sep '17 12:55:59 AM by TerminusEst

A documentary series on Japanese martial arts, made by the BBC in 1983. First episode is about Shorinji Kempo.

Hey so sorry for what looks like spam this turned out longer than I thought but! I'm an occasional follower in terms of martial arts discussions here but first time poster in this area of TVT.

I've done about five years worth of a mix of Karate, Jujitsu (I think from Aiki-Jujitsu but would need to call the school up and ask lineagewise) and some Americanized Kempo before along with a little bit of Eskrima/Kali/FMA. A lot of it was pretty street focused, the founder of the dojo was a vet and an army ranger and we did a lot of classes for police, not that I ever learned on that level.

But I had to have a pretty big surgery and then start dealing with college and some other stuff and lost every bit of my conditioning. Now I'm doing T'ai Chi/Taijiquan, specifically Yang-style, really just to strengthen my body and improve my conditioning since I found a Chinese Martial Arts place ridiculously close to my house.

My question is are there actual positives to Tai Chi as a martial art? I can feel it legitimately helping me as a strengthening/physical conditioning method but its reputation as an actual martial art was so loaded with disdain in the circles I used to train in that I was outright embarrassed and ashamed to seek it out until now even when my doctor recommended it to recover from surgery. The place I'm training at also teaches Northern Shaolin and some style of Praying Mantis, but I've agreed with the Sifu that I need to build up to more 'hard power' styles.

Tl;DR used to practice a lot of the more 'practical' style of martial art, got wreck'd by life and learning Tai Chi for health but kinda embarrassed, not sure if I'm right to worry about practicing a weak art.

edited 19th Oct '17 10:05:29 AM by Dblade26

It's a little more nuanced than "depends on how you train it".

It is very not likely that you will be in a place that actually teaches and trains it in an alive manner (Tai Chi's reputation mainly stems from this, although it doesn't really sound like your body can really handle training any martial art in an alive manner right now), thus practice will generally consist of forms and maybe some push hands.

I am not 100% sold on push hands as a useful training technique.

Forms, on the other hand, can help you with body mechanics which are helpful upon recovery and transitioning back to something more grounded.

I'm actually pondering a similar thing right now, just moved to Cali and am debating seeking out a kung fu school (probably xingyiquan or bajiquan if I can find it) versus joining the dark side and going BJJ.

edited 19th Oct '17 2:29:08 PM by PRC4Eva

As a form of exercise there is no issue with it. Unless you have plans to turn to it for combat, I wouldn't worry too much.

This. The martial applications do exist, but as per usual, they tend to be pretty rare in this day and age.

Kashima: the navel of budo

Finally got myself a Blue Belt in Tae Kwon-Do.

Been doing Krav Maga as well, really enjoy that too. Been tempted to do more martial arts and self-defence stuff, does anyone have any recommendations?

If you're interested in something more weapon based you could check out whether there's a Libre Fighting group somewhere.

There's a MAJOR boxing match coming up on Saturday, between what are almost unarguably the two most skilled boxers in the world right now, Guillermo Rigondeaux, (originally of Cuba, now living in the US) versus Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine. There probably hasn't been a match between two guys with this sort of skill level who are still at or close to their best since at least Chavez and Whitaker in 1993, (Chavez was slightly past his best, not that it was obvious at the time) or, if that doesn't quite cut it, since Hagler and Hearns or Leonard and Duran. (Although it's worth keeping in mind that Rigondeaux is 37, an age where fighters are often either old are dealing with their physical gifts leaving them.)

Both guys have multiple Olympic gold medals, legendary amateur careers, both came later than normal to professional ranks, (particularly Rigo, who could not compete as a pro until he defected from Cuba) and both have cut an impressive swath since become pros.

Here's a quick preview with gifs and commentary of the two men, some of their tendencies and techniques, complete with links to more in depth breakdowns of their fights and techniques. This fight may not be a pulse pounding brawl, but if both guys bring it, it's hard to imagine a boxing match with a higher level of quality fighter or greater skill.

Video of Rigondeaux' best victory, against certified Lightning Bruiser Nonito Donaire, who was rated as the 3rd or 4th best fighter in the world at the time.

Short clips from one of Lomachenko's best wins, against big punching Nicholas Walters.

edited 6th Dec '17 3:09:29 PM by TheWanderer

They definitely seem to prefer different methods. One used his reach really well the other was amazingly agile and was just inside the other fighters defense a lot and pummeling the crap out of it and evading frequently.

Decided to link a few videos on Japanese koryu (classical martial arts) here:

Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, the oldest existing school in Japan and an Intangible Cultural Asset.

Kukishin-ryu (aka Kukishinden Tenshin Hyoho), which could be older than the above, but this is very murky as school histories can be. Interesting regardless.

Kashima Shinryu, developed in the Kashima Shrine out of older swordfighting techniques practiced by the priests. Kashima Shrine has a very strong connection to Japanese martial arts in general.

All schools have their own internal lore about their origins, both written and oral, the historicity of which can sometimes be difficult if not impossible to verify. Not to mention sometimes containing its own mythology, connecting themselves to a divine source.

edited 9th Dec '17 12:48:47 PM by TerminusEst