Attended my first class on Mon. I've gained 5 kg, became slower, and forgot my few favorite combos. Despite the long holidays, Vince ran the first class like a regular one, with drills and 5 rounds of free sparring (which seems like 5 years) at the end of the class.
I realised a few things from this first lesson of the year:
1. Basics first - hunchback, tuck in chin, look in front, hands up, push off from the rear leg.
2. Maintain posture, look in front when doing the modified duck or bop and weave. Never look down, or I'll eat uppercuts and knees.
3. Remain calm, find openings, and use angles.
The last part is kinda dodgy because I think I was too eager to "win" (see my entry on Feb 10, 2007) so much so that I neglected my defenses in the pursuit of strikes that connect. There were many occasions I felt like a sitting duck with gaps all over that my opponents can easily take advantage of. And I ate some nasty shots when I stand still to slug it out, zero footwork. I guess it boils down to one thing: must improve my mental game, ie. Defense First. Yes, I did use the clinch successfully but in the process of gaining the clinch, I saw so many lapses in my defense that even a 10 year old can KO me given the chance.
From now on, I'm just going to go slow even if I got hammered, and slowly work on my defensive skills first.
Note to self: must discover how the mental game and defensive approach fits in different types of fighting styles: eg. jabber, counter puncher, slugger, southpaw and etc.
Every kata has a creator. Somewhere back in history, whether it was ten years ago or 400 years ago, a person who was a martial artist took some techniques and put them together in a routine that could be repeated by others. Today’s sport-oriented karate players view the creating or changing kata as off limits [...]
Been away from training last 2 months. Although I welcomed and enjoyed the change of pace and scene, I missed training terribly. Then I realised that my MA training has helped me in more ways than acquiring a few rudimentary fighting skills. It has given me a completely new healthy lifestyle: both mentally and physically. I've become fitter and stronger than most guys my age (still lotsa room for improvements) and it has been SUPER training with a bunch of like-minded fine folks.
KDTA coach Fitness & MA training from an empowering approach: encouraging people to discard their fear and worries by adapting a healthy lifestyle and developing a positive mindset. Learning functional self defense skills is simply a natural by-product from our gym.
So to my gym buddies and coaches - Vince, Sam, Adam, Mike, Fidael, Thong, Albert, Laurent, Leon, Imran, Alex, Tommy and everyone in KDTA: Thanks for the great fun and company. Happy Holidays and see you guys in 2008!
Lately it has become fashionable to present kata as a historical source of fighting techniques more realistic for use in the field that tournament sparring. Many people are attracted to kata applications as a lost art and claim that it is clear that the jujutsu techniques of old have been removed from Karate practice by [...]
I have looked around to try to find anyone similar to what my instructor (Steve Smith - The Little Dojo) can do. As I train in Karate based Martial Arts - I am seeing and training in more of what he knows on the Kung fu side(aka The Little Dojo) of his training.
Dr. Yeung Demonstration is very similar in many ways what Sifu Smith teaches. I enjoyed this very much, I hope everyone does too.
Demonstration by Dr. Yeung, renouned master, teacher of Internation Champions who collectively took 370 gold medals from 1992 - 1998. Dr. Yeung’s demonstration includes Fa Jing, Monkey Style Kung Fu, Drunken Style Kung Fu, Northern Mantis Kung Fu, Snake style Kung Fu, Chin Na, and Wing Chun Kung Fu at the Newcastle University Sports Festival, England. See more at www.pathgate.org
