Fist Size Bruise and other Pain

The last two classes were nothing unusual for the high belts. This because we spent most of our time getting people ready to test again. We tested one last night and will probably test everyone else again next week. Sabum let me grade part of last night’s test which was pretty cool.

Last night the person testing was the one who I blasted with the reverse side kick last week. I also punched her pretty hard last week and she still has a fist sized bruise on her arm to show for it. It may seem mean to those not familiar with sparring and/or fighting. However, we are trying to teach her not to be a charger. For sure, given her low belt rank and bullying tendencies, she could probably do pretty good at a tournament. However, bullying and that style of fighting will only take you so far. Sooner or later you will run into someone who knows how to stand up to a bully and/or charger.

While charging has a place it’s no good if you can’t think or adjust to your opponent. It’s even more important on the street. So, we need to break her of these habits before they become ingrained.

She also had a tough time with her break. This because the wood was very green and sappy. In fact, when she finally broke it you could literally smell the pine. Since the rest of the boards for next week are coming out of that same piece of stock everyone is going to have fun. My instructor’s comment regarding this made me chuckle:

It’ll be good for them.

Past that, I continue to shop around for another martial arts school. We have two possible scenarios and one involves staying open. If that one happens I’m very likely going to still take a chin na class while helping my instructor get her next dan rank. The class I located meets once a week, is designed to compliment hard arts like taekwondo, and students can eventually obtain instructor certification and teach (basically black belt equivalent).

The other option is total school closure. If that happens chin na may still happen. However, I’ve also located a hapkido school that’s about 40 minutes away. If they are priced reasonably I will check them out. FYI this hapkido video is worth a look once you get past the warm-up. In addition, this Chin Na video gives you something to compare it to. Notice how the Koreans generally move to a violent ending while Chinese Chin Na keeps flowing from technique to technique?

Given I’m already studying a Korean martial art, hapkido is appealing. In fact maybe 30% of the techniques I already know, just in a different context. However, it’s also pretty rough. So long-term I don’t know if my old body can hold together! Chin Na is somewhat easier on the body, teaches you how to flow, and would be a good supplement to the striking I already know. I guess we shall see.

Either way, in the next month I’ll probably visit the Kung Fu school and check out their chin na class. Then maybe the hapkido school if they are in my price range.

Since we were short on hogus and ended up sharing ours with the students, sabum and I sparred without ours last night. So, it had to be “light” contact. Despite being illegal in a tourney, I decided to surprise her by grabbing any arm she left out there. Credit to her that she’s very good and pulling them back fast. I probably have more experience than her in grabbing appendages and throwing or taking someone down (in TKD proper she is my superior). Consequently I almost had her once. After that I could not get an arm or a leg. It was a good impromptu exercise for the both of us.

~BCP

Basic Throws

For February my side bar videos will highlight some of the basic throws that I have found useful. I have not formally trained in a ground art like judo, jujitsu, etc.; however, PPCT did have a selection of standing throws that were designed to keep you standing or kneeling and get your opponent on the ground so you could get the cuffs on them. I also picked up a few in wing chun and my current taekwondo curriculum has a selection of basic standing throws too.

The first throw I’ll highlight is from Human Weapon:

The shoulder throw (minus the lock they show) is one of my favorites. The DOC taught us a hip throw that is very similar to this and it’s one that I used at least a dozen times. It’s very simple and works well under stress. You can also kick this one up a notch and use it to defend from a clinch.

• The hip throw

To be honest I prefer hip throws over shoulder throws. You can step into a punch while blocking from the inside or outside with this one. Then, as my sifu would say, it’s very easy to take away their center. They also seem to work well on someone who is much bigger than you. With the shoulder throw and really big person I always get nervous that if I don’t pull it off they may squash me. With the hip throw you are rolling them to the side which lessens that fear. Here’s another example from wing chun. One of the keys to making it work is to practice fluidly achieving a hip-to-hip position. The wing chun guy does it fast but he does get hip-to-hip for a split second. He does it from open stance and adds a strike. However, all he would have to do is push and the opponent would fall.

• Standing throws

I’ll close this post with the video from Mr. Ajay Shah. These capture the types of throws and sweeps we practice in taekwondo. They are stand-up throws that are designed to get your opponent prone and keep you in a dominant position. All of ours end with a chambered punch to the face or groin. (The rest of Mr. Shah’s videos can be found HERE.)

From a ground fighter perspective these are pretty basic. However, they are good supplements to any stand up art and would probably work on the street.

~BCP

Cat Stance Training

Cat stance is found in Kung Fu, Karate, and Taekwondo. It probably originated in Chinese Kung Fu. The Chinese have a penchant for imitating animals in their martial arts. In Taekwondo it looks like this:

What follows is a video of my cat stance training. Here’s what you need:

1. One cat

2. One string

3. Excellent hand-eye coordination

(Funky lounge pants optional)

The result is one tired cat:

~BCP