#budo head

[budohead]

That would never work in a real fight because people don't just punch in like that.

You're right, people don't just punch in like they do in the dojo, but that's not the purpose of drills like that. They are used to familiarize yourself with the concept of a strike coming at you. It is used to teach you how to gage your distance, get you used to the feeling of blocking or redirecting, and place strikes in the proper, most effective places. So that if you do end up in a real street fight you won't be startled by a fist coming at you or the impact of a block or have to think about the most effective way to strike.

[budohead]

[budohead]

[budohead]

[budohead]

My first black eye

One of my favorite experiences of my martial arts career to share is how I got my first black eye. I was paired with a woman in her late 60's, 4th degree black belt, and had been training for most of her life. We set up on guard, less than a second after the instructor said "go" she slipped a jab right through my guard. She hit me hard enough knock me on my back. To this day I have never been hit that hard in my life. However, I did learn a valuable lesson about fighting that day. A successful fighter is not the flashiest, the most flexible or even the strongest. A successful fighter is someone who keeps it simple and doesn't waste energy.

[budohead]

Martial arts pro tip- Cat Stances

Many of you are familiar with a cat stance. The balanced coiled stance with most of your weight on your rear leg, and your lead foot lightly touching the ground. Most martial artists use this stance to bait an attacker into walking into strikes. It's also known as a static stances that is not very easy to move from. But what if I told you there was a way to easily move forward in this stance and deliver devastating strikes, while still maintaining your balance. Well here is step by step instructions on how to do that Step one- from your cat stance, place your lead foot flat on the ground, while turning it outward. Step two- your rear hips and shoulders should naturally turn forward, at this point you are your most stable and rooted, this is the moment to deliver your strike. Make sure your weight is still on your rear leg. Step three- shift your weight to your front leg, and pull your rear leg forward so that is now your lead leg. The final result is that you move seamlessly forward into another cat stance, or stance of your choosing. If you train with animal styles you will notice that this movement has a very tiger feel to it.

[budohead]

Some challenging ways to practice forms

Here are a few methods of practicing forms that really help you understand the form. Hands only- keep your feet planted and work only through the blocks and strikes of your form. This is an excellent way of seeing exactly what you do with your hands during the form as well as challenging your understanding of the form. Footwork only- with your hands at elbow position or on guard work through all the stances, kicks, and turns of the form. Poor footwork is very common in many forms, this will help to clean up your movements and build fluidity. Mirror- flip your turns and use the opposite hands and feet for all blocks and strikes. This will help to solidify your understanding of the form. Added bonus it's fun to watch if you are training with friends. Blindfolded- cover or close your eyes and perform the form. Make sure you record your form to see if you did it right, this will help to build your muscle memory. Backwards- Finally put your knowledge to the ultimate test, run your form from the end to the beginning.

[budohead]

Conditioning

If you are taking a martial art to protect yourself one thing you want make sure you do is condition your hands. Here are some tips for conditioning your hands to fight. - It is not necessary to start off striking pads barehanded. Start with what you are comfortable with, thin gloves are an excellent place to start. From there you can progress to grip tape and eventually to bare hands. - Heavy boxing gloves are not ideal for conditioning your hands, they absorb too much of the impact and protect your skin too well for your hands to gain a tolerance. - It is NEVER necessary to make your knuckles bleed. Making your knuckles bleed is counter productive as it leaves the skin weaker. Too often students try to push it to the point where they have destroyed their knuckles. An ideal point is to strike until skin is red but not broken, upon reaching this point take a break and don't strike anything for a while or focus on working a different part of your body. - Unless you have been training a considerable amount of time please refrain from striking hard surfaces like hard wood, metal, and concrete. - It is NEVER shameful to switch from bare hands to gloves, I've seen a few students who pushed too hard without gloves simply because they thought they would be considered weak if they switched to gloves.