How well do you respond to pressure?

Guys,
I have recently seen a couple of sparring demonstrations. They seemed fluid in their movements, as if they had reasonable mastery of them. BUT, we all know that pressure creates a much different reality. We can all drive a car easily on an empty street, but when the cars are honking, and people are zipping in and out of traffic, it makes the experience a lot more intense. The demos seemed to happen in a rhythm, jab, jab, cross, jab,jab, roundhouse. It seemed so contrived to me. Not to say that the demo sucked, not to say that it was two wannabes fighting. But I dont think that the performance was in any way indicative of how a fight really is.

I would recommend that you guys add an element of suprise to your training. Recently, I added a little bit of pressure to some beginner students, and the results suprised them. I put on a body harness, and attacked them in a helter-skelter fashion. Ya know what? Gone was the footwork, and double jabs we had worked so much on. They did what scared folks do: stood still and punched. I was not suprised by their change in actions. They were. I told them not to be ashamed, and that what they did what happens to those with limited training.

Point is that with a little distraction, your skills can fail you. Try to implement some random distractions into your workout. You will thank me

I stand corrected

Guys,
I think I may have to make my first retraction. I know, I know, even a man as handsome (and modest) as myself can overlook some things from time to time. While this is not a full blown retraction, it is close enough. Anyhow, if you read my earlier post, I have stated that the skill of board-breaking is about as useless as an ejection seat on a helicopter.

But one of the readers commented on that particular post and made a good point. Honorable mention to James for speaking out on this one. I have always said that board-breaking involves a lot more chicanery and hoopla than actual practical skill. But James mentioned that breaking boards is not only about ecological waste. He said that it is a way to condition the knuckles so that they are prepared to strike someone's face full force. See, a lot of people have not sufficiently conditioned themselves to strike the face without gloves. So board breaking is used in some schools to acclimate the hands to such impact. That makes a lot of sense to me.

So excuse me folks, I have to go to the market and buy some sour cream. It helps this extra big serving of crow go down easier.

Training for sport or for real

Folks,

I have more of an observation more than anything today. I was just watching the ultimate fighter on television. For those of you who dont know, ultimate fighting is a competition that allows a number of different martial arts disciplines in the same competition. For example, there is no break up of a clinch like in boxing. You are able to punch when the fight hits the mat, unlike wrestling. And yes, judo throws and submission (pain compliance) holds are thrown in the mix also.

Anyhow, I notice that after 13 years of ultimate fighting, there are certain trends emerging. For example, ultimate fighting is no longer touted as a style versus style competition. No more TKD versus boxing versus karate versus jiujitsu. Now the athletes crosstrain, and because of that, I have noticed some odd things. For example, it seems that the creativity of the fighters has ended. In the earlier days, techniques were being created at a breakneck pace. Now, a new set of truisms have set in, and they seemed to be engraved in stone. In the old days, practitioners of ultimate fighting competitions were contemptuos of traditional martial arts. They claimed that the old methods were obsolete, ineffective and just all around of no value. They quoted Bruce Lee in his assertions that the dogmatic ways of many martial arts schools were in fact killing the arts.

But now, in this alleged age of enlightenment, I see the old trends emerging. Only boxing is used for handstrikes, only Muay Thai for kicks. I see only wrestling takedowns, and classic jiujitsu submission holds. Wake up guys, soon enough these rules to which you cling will become the dogma that you claim to despise.