All Questions
23
votes
17answers
3k views
Which martial arts focus on self defense?
I'm trying to make sure I ask this question in a manner that doesn't make it subjective or argumentative.
While all martial arts have merit, I believe those merits lie in various areas. Which ...
5
votes
5answers
367 views
How to select the right Aikido dojo
What should I be aware of if I would like to start training Aikido? I used to train as teenager in small dojo. I picked up few tricks but I never got the essence of Aikido. Is there something you ...
19
votes
6answers
767 views
Drills for reducing your natural “flinch” reaction
When going into a longsword bind, or getting hit as part of a Kata, I tend to flinch visibly and shut my eyes.
What are some exercises I can do, solo or with a partner, to help me keep my eyes open?
16
votes
10answers
1k views
What martial art should I start with?
Young male, not looking for anything specific, but I am a huge fan of MMA in general. (not just the UFC/SF)
What would be a good beginner martial art for both fitness and relevancy to watching ...
9
votes
2answers
359 views
What can I do to improve my squat for judo throws during randori?
I am 6 foot 2 inches and weigh about 90Kg - I find it very difficult during randori to get a full turn in for (for example) O Goshi.
My instructors are always telling me that I need to get lower and ...
6
votes
4answers
2k views
How bad is kickboxing for your brain?
I'm not asking for medical advice, I'm just asking this out of sheer curiosity:
To me it seems that kickboxing is the best kind of workout I could get, nothing else gets me in shape quite as quickly ...
1
vote
1answer
486 views
Which muscles do I use to stand? [closed]
Standing naturally is REALLY HARD. Farmers spend their days bent to the earth, techno-people spend their days sitting at a desk, etc. The body adapts, and deforms, and loses its natural efficiency. ...
8
votes
2answers
231 views
Harnessing emotion during sparring
I find that sometimes when I'm sparring, particularly if I'm sparring someone around my own level of ability, I can get quite riled up - particularly if I take a heavy hit. This gives me a serious ...
4
votes
4answers
381 views
How to meditate after an adrenaline rush or exertion?
I always find it difficult to concentrate and empty my mind when I have just had argument with someone or have done very tough physical training.
What are good pre-meditation techniques to find the ...
11
votes
3answers
166 views
When moving to a new city, what considerations need to be taken into account finding a new teacher?
I took Shidokan for several years, and was very happy with my dojo and my sensei. I recently had to move for work, and I know from experience that these are two of the most important parts of your ...
20
votes
9answers
3k views
Is weight training useful in martial arts?
This may sound like a bit of a daft question, but I have heard and read different sides. On the one side, people say weight training will increase your strength and power and therefore will be ...
12
votes
12answers
566 views
When should I run away?
What are the criteria I need to evaluate in order to conclude that I should run away?
Sometimes the right answer is to walk away, sometimes it is to give them your wallet... When is it time to leg ...
11
votes
7answers
969 views
What is a good push-up routine to build punch strength?
I've been told that I don't have much power behind my punches and that push-ups are a good way to improve this. Is there a good push-up route that could be done at the beginning or the end of the day ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
Lowering heart rate at will
I train archery as part of my martial arts training. What is the best way to lower or control heart rate before taking shot? Assuming I have been doing activity that raised it. I know just waiting for ...
5
votes
5answers
472 views
How does one mentally push past pain in training?
Big part of my training is maintaining control of your body even though I feel physical pain. There are usually two situations, in physical pain while still having energy to fight, and in physical ...
10
votes
8answers
2k views
What are good exercises for building grip strength for judo and BJJ?
I'm looking for exercises to help maintain a grip on an opponent's gi while pulling them around. There are two elements to this: strength and endurance. Meaning, I want my grip to be hard to break but ...
6
votes
3answers
918 views
How useful is a grappling dummy, when you don't have a live training partner available?
There is no substitute for a live training partner, but sometimes a training partner just isn't available and drilling is an important part of training for groundwork grappling.
For those times I ...
7
votes
3answers
169 views
Training while exhausted
In martial art circles, we often hear that training while exhausted (or tiered) will improve your technique. The one I heard was that it will force one to stop all extraneous movement and do the ...
7
votes
6answers
426 views
How does a non-grappler train to be ready to avoid grappling in a real-world situation?
I train in non-grappling arts. I have a reasonable amount of experience with this. However, I'm not sure how I would deal with an untrained opponent coming to grapple with me -- or someone whose ...
12
votes
7answers
319 views
What characteristics should I look for in a sensei?
Finding the right teacher is important.
While personal achievement has it merits just because someone is good at something doesn't make them good at teaching that same thing. Are there core ...
9
votes
5answers
317 views
How important is lineage when it comes to credibility or trustworthiness?
I was doing some surfing today and noticed a few mentions of lineage when considering a given school/dojo. The people asking about lineage of a given school seemed to feel that if the instructor(s) ...
7
votes
2answers
385 views
What are the key differences between kendo and kenjutsu?
I was wondering what are the key differences between kenjutsu and kendo?
I know that kendo is considered as an art of fighting where as the kenjutsu is the art of killing, or am I wrong here?
6
votes
3answers
193 views
How should a novice train if unable to join a dojo yet?
I have wanted to start learning a type of martial art for a long time, but my lifestyle didn't help (I have lived in 5 countries in the last 10 years, changed location at least once in each of those ...
6
votes
2answers
370 views
What qualifies a school or business as a legitimate martial arts system?
How can one find out if a Martial Art school is legit/registered? I took a style back in the 90's called Chung Moo Quan. The school eventually closed because of some investigations into it being a ...
4
votes
2answers
432 views
Can I practice any of the martial arts after a hernia surgery?
I am diagnosed with Inguinal Hernia. I'm 21 years old, so the doctor said he cannot predict whether it's going to be a 'mesh' or a 'sewn-up' repair.
I am very interested in martial arts - especially ...
2
votes
4answers
152 views
What rate should I be learning tai chi and qi gong?
I am a beginner with Tai Chi QiGong. There are 20 Movements of forms. I have been taking classes for a little over 3 months and I have only learned 13 of them. For the past 3 classes there have only ...
39
votes
10answers
1k views
How do you prepare for the stress of a real self-defense situation?
How do you prepare for a real stress situation, in which you are forced to defend yourself or others? I'm not talking about avoiding conflict; assume that you have already tried all that is possible ...
11
votes
3answers
310 views
Training Body Reading Without Sparring
When I did rapier, with some emphasis on sparring as well as structured drills, one of the things you got very good at was reading the other person's tells. Some of which were things that could be ...
27
votes
17answers
814 views
Is practising techniques on both the left and right sides beneficial or detrimental to martial development?
Is there any evidence to suggest that practising techniques on the left and right side of the body produces more adept martial artists?
By "adept", I mean the learned ability to proficiently and ...
20
votes
6answers
381 views
What martial notation systems exist for describing techniques in writing?
What are some examples of clear ways to describe martial techniques in writing?
I often take notes during and after classes, and occasionally find that I haven't described a particular technique ...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
Good exercises for higher side kicks?
I've been training martial arts for several years but still aren't impressed by the height of my side kicks. I think its a combination of strength and stretching since I can use my hands to lift my ...
8
votes
6answers
432 views
Benefits of a formal senpai/kohai relationship within an Aikido dojo
What are the benefits of a formal senpai/kohai relationship within the cadre of a western (aka based in the UK) Aikido dojo?
I am interested in personal experience (not opinions) as to whether ...
18
votes
5answers
1k views
How do I practice judo throws on my own without a partner?
How do you practice your judo throws at home or any time that you're by yourself?
The leg movement is easy to do as long as you have the space, but proper arm movement and strength is hard to ...
17
votes
7answers
2k views
Are there legal ramifications to being a trained martial artist?
One common urban legend that tends to be passed around from time to time is something along the lines of the following:
Black belts are considered lethal weapons by the law!
Which might also be ...
13
votes
7answers
730 views
Are martial arts suitable for a busy, IT professional?
I am a 22-year-old IT professional with 5 days work a week (8 hours daily). My office being far from my place I remain out for nearly 12 hours.
I get stressed sometimes because of this schedule, and ...
6
votes
2answers
210 views
An Ontology of Combat
I've been looking for a semantic ontology defining the structure and varieties of attacks and defenses. Initially I'm looking for a very simple tree, something like:
Attack->
Punch->
Jab
...
10
votes
5answers
1k views
Exercises to improve balance when kicking
When performing kicks, I quite often lose my balance, which results in me being positioned in a stance where I'm more exposed to attacks. This is normally due to me trying to raise my leg for the ...
8
votes
6answers
229 views
how to overcome “freeze”?
I have a grading coming up soon and one section of the test involves a series of wrist releases. Uke is supposed to grab me by the wrists several times and I need to display that I know and can ...
7
votes
1answer
204 views
Official Term/Good Reference for Hapkido Advanced Basics
In my school we teach, at around the 5th kup level, a series of "advanced basics" that involve taking the seven sets and doing them in a push-pull motion while moving. An example might be doing a ...
13
votes
7answers
665 views
What do I need to keep in mind when picking a martial art as a bouncer?
For a bouncer, who is already larger, fitter and stronger than average, which martial arts training would you recommend?
Which skills training, or other properties of the martial art, dojo and ...
10
votes
6answers
317 views
What exercises are safe (or not) for total beginners?
I am kind of a total beginner. I did some Tae Kwon Do when I was little, but I don't take that much into account, considering everything; I always liked Martial Arts and everything that revolves ...
9
votes
1answer
171 views
Where do kneeling and bowing down in Kung Fu come from?
In our dojo (Kung Fu) we kneel and bow. Where did this tradition come from?
8
votes
3answers
295 views
How are joints affected in the long term by martial arts practice?
When doing certain exercises, I get the feeling that they would cause stress on the joints after doing them for years and years (such as elbow joints in the instance of wing chun chain punches).
...
5
votes
8answers
342 views
Are there musical instruments which, when practiced, noticeably increase martial arts skills and performance?
Martial arts movies suggest that some musical instruments (drums, for example) are particularly well suited and matched with martial arts practice.
Is there any truth to this claim? Which instruments ...
5
votes
5answers
307 views
What are good exercises for strengthening knees to hold stances better?
About a year ago I suffered a major knee injury and while I have been cleared to return to the dojo and train, I still have some weakness in the knee. What are some good exercises to strengthen the ...
4
votes
0answers
126 views
Tanto Forms Reference
A long time ago I used to study fighting with a tanto, derived loosely from aikijujutsu. Recently I have found myself glancing through a lot of forms practice and analyzing the movements, and was ...
1
vote
3answers
242 views
What should I look for in order to develop self-defense skills as quickly as possible? [closed]
What should I look for in a school or training program that would indicate that I will develop self-defense skills very quickly?
Does my body weight or height or any other physical characteristic ...
9
votes
6answers
326 views
How can I try to engage students who don't really want to be there?
I teach Aikido at a local community college. Roughly half of the kids are there just to fulfill a P.E. requirement. These students can be frustrating because they aren't really interested in martials ...
8
votes
3answers
375 views
What exercises can I do to strengthen my knees for seated techniques?
In Aikido it is known that repeated suwariwaza techniques (seated techniques) are very hard on your knees. Most of the older masters have knee issues where they struggle to transition from seated to ...
7
votes
3answers
357 views
What are the advantages of using a vertical fist for punching?
There is vertical fist punch in Hapkido as well as some Chinese martial arts and in older styles of boxing, but I see it a lot less in modern fighting and sparring.
What are the advantages and ...
