Gymnastics In The Martial Arts

Im still a young pup, (as so many keep tellin me) but i think i will crack up if someone tells me to do that. Then i'll do a jump spinn back kick over their head and say that why i dont do that
*LOL*

Just playin
-Chazz

 

lol I am only a bit older than you.... but still too old for that LOL

 

Well said Waya. I believe we don't teach/are being taught enough of the mental aspects (but thats a topic for another forum page). Me, I've never understood the whole backwards flip thing to avoid an attack, whatever happened to good old fashioned footwork, back in my day ....

Freeform

 

Show me someone who can backflip faster than I can punch and I'll show you my fifth nipple!

In defence of Acrobatics, I think being competent at complex movements, makes you confident at simple ones. Confidence is of primary importance in all aspects of the arts.

 

*LOL* Now that could get interesting!

 

*covers his eyes and screams*

I agree with it making a person better at basic techniques.

 

In points competitions, you are less likely to get your face ripped off for doing something err.......exotic.

We used to call it showboating. If you are winning a match, then you can afford to lose a few point's trying out flashy crowd-pleasing stuff.

Dragon Sweeps,, dropping into splits, Spinning Kicks, Cartwheel kicks, Spinning Axe kicks, and Chi Balls.

Pity all the real fun stuff is gonna get you killed if you try and make it work for you in real life, but just because you see someone show off in a competition doesn't mean they don't realise this for themselves.

Enjoy it while you can, and pay the chiropractor later.

Andy

 

Cartwheels, flips, kicks etc.

While I totally understand what most of you guys mean with regards to the relation between flips and combat, I don’t agree at all.

We do Martial Arts. To be able to be an effective warrior (for lack of a better descriptive word), we need to not only just train or skill, but also our minds and our bodies. There should be a natural balance between focus, flexibility, coordination, strength and power, HEALTH and basic body mechanics. In the army, we did many ‘useless’ training sets (like fetching a leaf from the top of the mountain – 25kilos away) which were specifically aimed at making us better soldiers.

Cartwheels are great routines to teach coordination and all that goes with it. In my school, there was a little boy (6 years) who could not do any cartwheels. After months of training and trying, he eventually got the feel for it. His Kung Fu improved tenfold.

Martial Arts is a science, just as any Combat training. As a martial Artist, I want act, look, be, and react like a warrior. It is essential that I maintain that balance between body, mind and spirit.

Another point that most people missed completely, is that first and foremost, martial arts was created to improve health first, second came longevity, and then came combat.

 

Gymnastics - Martial arts

I would say, that although you don't need gymnastics for self defence at all, its certainly a plus to be able to jump,move and bend the way a gymnast does. So long as its nots the bigger part of your training and you concentrate on the application of self defence techniques.
Gymnastics do contribute to demos and such making a good advert for any Martial art.