Yes, it would. Our belt system is based on who can tap who out. It comes from within, from confronting your fears head on. Whatever you may have. Fear of contact, if you wanna be real literal. IN MY OPINION you don't grow as a person when you act things out rather than doing them. Kata is useless play acting. How does it give you greater self confidence? Nothing wrong with bowing, so long as you don't abase yourself. How I believe that applies to martial arts is that you must do it with an alive, unpredictable partner. A real conversation isn't scripted, neither should your art be. What I think he was trying to say is that searching for something outside yourself to gain enlightenment is useless. It comes from within. Teachers cannot give it to you.
Kata is useful for concentration. Don't have a partner or a bag to knock around? Do a kata, and keep training. PL
Yes, it would. Our belt system is based on who can tap who out. Ok, it would be the same... why do you have those "empty rituals" then? Whatever you may have. Fear of contact, if you wanna be real literal. Kata is not a useful tool at all in defeating your fears? I think the only way to defeat your fear is the knowledge that you will win in a fight. Whether you have an accurate assumption or not is on you... Wherever that confidence comes from is useful in helping you. IN MY OPINION you don't grow as a person when you act things out rather than doing them. Hmmmm, I think you grow spiritually with both. Kata is useless play acting. One night I went to a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Dojo (very good grapplers) and participated in the class. The first half they taught us a techniqe, the second half was live sparring. When we were first learning the move, (the umpa into a guard escape into a side mount into a mount into an armbar) our opponent did not resist us or fight us because we had to learn the move before we applied it. This is like our kata. My dojo has boards where we have moves structured just like this (except not as long), these are our kata boards. We practice our kata with another person, not solo. We do these moves in kata to have a basis of our art and for practice. How does it give you greater self confidence? The way I practice kata, same way as you. The way Karateka practice kata, I don't really know. I think it is like doing a drill. Since I don't do it I can't prais nor condem. A lot of Karateka seem to be pretty confident though. Nothing wrong with bowing, so long as you don't abase yourself. At the begenning of class, we all bow into our sensei at the same time and he bows into us, saying "we are a unit, and we want to learn the art." Before we practice a kata techniqe we bow because it is traditional kata format. Before sparing we bow saying "this is a learning experience, and I respect you as you respect me. If I hurt you it is an accident." At the end of class we bow to say "thank you." Doing this does not abase yourself, as all the bowing is mutual. How I believe that applies to martial arts is that you must do it with an alive, unpredictable partner. As I have stated before, I believe both kata and especially real life practice is going to help you grow. One is not going to impede the other from progressing. A real conversation isn't scripted, neither should your art be. Would it not be wise to study the dynamics of a good conversation to make yours better? What I think he [Musashi] was trying to say is that searching for something outside yourself to gain enlightenment is useless. It comes from within. I agree for the most part, but how are you going to learn how to enlighten yourself by yourself? You have to have SOMETHING from the outside to teach you, wether it be a book or person. Teachers cannot give it to you. Look at who this was coming from; he was obligated to say this for he was a complete and utter natural. If Musashi said, "to be truly great you need a teacher," it would be quite an odd statement.
It's performance based. Like a tournament ranking. We recognize that a belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to back the rest up on your own. Until you can do that, you get no belt. Yes. And that comes from hard sparring, not kata. like I said, in my opinion. I've never been a big advocate of lock flows myself. Generally the move is introduced with no resistance the first part of the class, then drilled with resistance, then applied in live sparring. Most non-sport schools never get past the first step. Lock flows, in my opinion, are attempts to cram in teaching as many locks as possible in a short amount of time. Maybe we have a different definetion of kata? Sure, reading about it would be great. But having a pretend conversation with yourself won't help, unless you're trying to get up the courage to ask someone out. Not neccesarily. He got that way through constant practice and dedication on his own.
It's performance based [The ranking system of colored belts]. Like a tournament ranking. We recognize that a belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to back the rest up on your own. Until you can do that, you get no belt. Does it really matter if it is just a colored peice of thread? It is a symbol to tell people how good you are, 'nuff said. Yes. And that [overcoming your fears of fighting] comes from hard sparring, not kata. Says who? I've never been a big advocate of lock flows myself. [lock flows: when you move from one position to the next on a willing partner to learn the moves] So your school just happens to do them and you do them just cuz they say so right? I think everyone has at least a couple things they don't like about their dojo, but they do it anyway because the learning experience is greater than what they don't like. Generally the move is introduced with no resistance the first part of the class, then drilled with resistance, then applied in live sparring. Most non-sport schools never get past the first step. Most non sport schools would be... Japanese Ju Jitsu schools, and Karate schools... and Kung Fu schools. Well, I cannot respond as I had not needed to go to any other dojo while adults were practicing. I checked out a Kenpo Ju Jitsu, but the instructor was teaching a kid's class. All I know is that we do all three (depending on how our instructor is feeling). Lock flows, in my opinion, are attempts to cram in teaching as many locks as possible in a short amount of time. How would you rather teach them? Maybe we have a different definetion of kata? Our kata: Stand 1 foot away from your partner. If you are doing a wrist lock, you do it from right here. If you are doing a throw or grappeling techniqe, you grab his gi, take three steps back, and execute a throw. If you are doing a grappeling techniqe you enter into it normally after he hits the mat. ... That be how we do our kata I think solo kata may be helpful if the moves are practicle and you know the correct application. The more you move your body into a certain position, the more it becomes a reflex (muscle memory). So if you move into the techniqe all the time in solo kata, then when you see your opening in sparring your reflex will snap in. Again, this is only if you know the application and the move is practical. This be my theory, but since I have always had a partner to work with I haven't needed to test this theory, fortunately. PS Sorry for the delay, I just moved places and we don't have internet yet.
Yes. That's what belts are for. They become meaningless when they only represent knowledge without physical skill, time put in or money paid to the instructor. Says me. Says everyone who FC spars. What fears are you facing when you do kata in the air? No, generally we don't. Usually we concentrate on just one technique. You should do all three. All in the same class. Subjectively, I think it's better to focus on one technique. We just call that drilling. Not what I think of as kata at all. Nah, dry land swimming.
Back to the original questions Wrist locks do work and I have used them plenty of times in the past. It is the suprise that makes them work but when you are both in the cage you know why you came there to fight and hence they do not work. Balance breaking. They do work and in early UFC and MMA events the stylised versions of them were more visable. Now the event has created more simple and effective versions of it. These are now used. Blocks - most of them don't work overly well and this is an issue many TMA's found out when they got in the cages etc. JJ is a good style but its like many TMA's you need to make it work for you as its not a case that all shoes fit. Your instructor will be different build and speed and thought pattern (important) so you need to make it work for you.
So what happens when you get older do you go down a belt when you are not able to tap out belts below you. I dont think so, Belts are a reflection of knowledge as well as physical skill. A good fighter may not make a good teacher and vice versa. To me this means that a good fighter who cant teach are only good for themselves but a good teacher who is not a good fighter is beneficial to many. Thats why for the belts for tapping is a bit of a non starter. I do agree though that belts shouldnt be given out for money paid or simply time put in.
Unless you have been to most non-sport schools, and trained with everyone who FC spars, I suggest you be a little less sweeping with your generalisations.
Yes I agree I train with a guy in his sixties who is a great ground fighter, if Iam half as good as him when Iam that age I will be well happy. The point I was making was that the skill may be retained but if you fought a younger opponent of roughly the same skill level your juice will run out sooner and you end up getting tapped. So its not just a simple question of being able to tap people. Again I agree. But I would want to be taught by a good teacher that has fought and sparred rather than someone whos just a good fighter.
Old people in bjj take longer to get their belts. As do those untalented it. That's life, and probably also the reson i'm still a white belt.
more people... cool What fears are you facing when you do kata in the air? It's not about you, it's about people who DO solo kata. If it is truly NOT about their fighting ability and about their FEARS, then it IS POSSIBLE to overcome them. Who is to say that you can't overcome them by doing something like playing video games? Live sparring is not the exclusive fear exterminator. You should do all three. All in the same class. Should I? Are you sure? Have you ever tried it the other way? Subjectively, I think it's better to focus on one technique. For the whole class I assume? That is not that bad of an idea, but it is not my class to teach. There is just simply too many techniqes to learn to focus on one for all of the class. If you truly want to excell what you want to do is make a notebook of all the techniqes you learn in class and put in extra practice at home memorizing them and drilling. Helps me. We just call that drilling. Not what I think of as kata at all. We just call that kata. Not what I think of as drilling at all. Nah, dry land swimming. Correct me if I'm wrong but it is a drill for them. They do not try to fight the air, they focus and work against an opponent inside their head. It is a known fact that thinking about physically going through the movements of a techniqe on somebody improves that techniqe. Not as much as live training perhaps, but it does help. How is a solo kata different from doing the Elbow-Escape Drill? That's life, and probably also the reson i'm still a white belt. Hedgehogey, how long have you been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu out of curiosity? What is balance breaking?
Because in FC sparring you WILL feel fear (at least the first few times). How in the world would you overcome your fears by doing something completely void of fear. Yes, I have. Reserving sparring only for people who have "learned proper technique" is merely a pretense to hide indoctrination. An example provided by bruce lee: Have a large, aggresive, untrained man spar a martial arts instructor. The instructor will usually lose. But if instead of allowing the large man to spar his first day, you made sure of the course of a few weeks that his technique was "proper", then put him against that same instructor, the instructor would usually win. Why? Because the untrained man had his spontanaeity taken away. Whatever. We mean the same thing. Do you not understand the dry land swimming analogy? The resisting opponent is the water. You can build up the physical attributes neccesary for swimming, but you can't improve your "swimming technique" outside of the water! The elbow escape drill is a drill, only one move, practiced usually with a partner. There is no "elbow escape kata" where you visualize several opponents coming after you and pretend to escape all their mounts. That would be absurd. As is the idea that practicing kata in the air while visualizing several opponents will actually help you when you are fighting one opponent standing up. About 9 months. What is balance breaking?[/QUOTE]
hmm...i don't want to read the rest of the thread, but i would like to comment on this bit. you CAN improve your technique through kata, in fact i think that's it's sole purpose. what you can not do is learn to actually use the technique. you seem to be redefining kata throughout the rest of your post to fit your needs...it is very similar in concept to the elbow escape drill, at least when the drill is performed without resistance.
Because in FC sparring you WILL feel fear (at least the first few times). How in the world would you overcome your fears by doing something completely void of fear. Is it not possible to cut off your fear of fighting by meditating? -Yes, I have. Reserving sparring only for people who have "learned proper technique" is merely a pretense to hide indoctrination. -An example provided by bruce lee: Have a large, aggresive, untrained man spar a martial arts instructor. The instructor will usually lose. -But if instead of allowing the large man to spar his first day, you made sure of the course of a few weeks that his technique was "proper", then put him against that same instructor, the instructor would usually win. Why? Because the untrained man had his spontanaeity taken away. That was a good observation... I don't see what that had to do with what we were talking about though. (being shown a techniqe; train it with resistance; sparring with it) Whatever. We mean the same thing. That we do. Do you not understand the dry land swimming analogy? The resisting opponent is the water. You can build up the physical attributes neccesary for swimming, but you can't improve your "swimming technique" outside of the water! Sometimes it is more convinient when you don't have the "water" handy. The elbow escape drill is a drill, only one move, practiced usually with a partner. There is no "elbow escape kata" where you visualize several opponents coming after you and pretend to escape all their mounts. That would be absurd. As is the idea that practicing kata in the air while visualizing several opponents will actually help you when you are fighting one opponent standing up. I will repeat: I am not able to say exactly the benefits but just relay my observations. I wish a person who honestly practices kata will say what are the reasons for them doing it. But from what I think is this: 1. Muscle Memory 2. Meditation (moving meditation like Tai Chi) Does anybody who does solo kata have any thoughts? About 9 months. Have you done other martial arts previously?
NO. For most people that's impossible. Look, it's really rather simple. Even *I* can comprehend it. In order to get rid of fear of fighting you must fight. See my rant. I thought you were saying you must know "proper technique" before sparring. Do you not understand the dry land swimming analogy? The resisting opponent is the water. You can build up the physical attributes neccesary for swimming, but you can't improve your "swimming technique" outside of the water! If you can't swim, do pushups. Run. Fill up a kiddy pool. Build attribues. But practicing a "swimming kata" is not going to help. You can ask about the correct method of doing strokes, but practicing them in the air won't help you. YOU MUST GET IN THE WATER. Yes. Shotokan, tae kwon do, daito-ryu, several vietnamese traditional styles (vo binh dinh, ho ba chun, 72 elbows, etc.), muay thai and vo tu do (which I still do).
When I was taught to swim, I wasn't simply tossed into the water and left to my own devices, as it would have been too easy to drown. I was taught a stage at a time, about floating and breathing, kicking and pulling with my arms. So in a way, I agree with your water analogy.
Where did we get the idea that aliveness means tossing them into the deepend without showing them what to do? The important thing is that you got in the water. The opponent is the water.
