I'm actually not sure what I want to do...could you define practical in that context?
Basically, do you want to look all wushu, or do you want to lay someone out? Capoeira has only a few takedown videos on YouTube; it's not really a combat sport. Not anymore, anyway.
I'm actually not sure what I want to do...could you define practical in that context?
Basically, do you want to look all wushu, or do you want to lay someone out? Capoeira has only a few takedown videos on YouTube; it's not really a combat sport. Not anymore, anyway.
I actually have a very different answer. I was given a black belt before the dojo closed down near me. It's a somewhat well-known fact that most martial arts styles can trace their roots back to Chinese martial arts. What I truly want to do, is go back to the source and incorporate what I already known and (as I explained before) expand my horizons.
go back to the source and incorporate what I already known and (as I explained before) expand my horizons.
Expand your horizons to what? What is your end goal? Do you want to study martial arts to gain more of a historical or cultural perspective? Do you want to have a good time? Do you want to learn to fight?
I used to do this martial art called Han Moo Do. I really enjoyed the versatility of it also the contact level of competitive fights where great for me, there is no punching to the head in Han Moo Do (not in competitive fights at least) and if there would have been I don't think I would have done it as long as I did.
I never tried to focus on learning something that I would use in "real-life" situation. For me it was all about competing and improving my techniques.
Too bad that it's pretty hard for me to get back to it. I don't have time as I used to and I have since doing it moved, so I wouldn't know anybody if I would go and continue, and for me one big thing was also the great group-spirit that we got in Han Moo Do, got friends there and had a lot of fun with people there usually.
Capoeira is pretty much the most absurd excuse for a martial art I can imagine. I'm sure it's a very fun sport and activity, though.
It is. I did some capoeira training and had a lot of fun. There's not many martial arts where singing and playing musical instruments is part of the activity.
I'm not a fan, but I'm going to back Capoeira a little bit. It's a fighting style disguised as a dance. It was made by slaves so it could be practiced in plain site without being seen as a threat. I've also heard that it's meant to be practiced with a blades strapped to your heel like the spurs on a rooster. That could be B.S., but it makes sense.
Han Moo Da: A Koren based martial art founded in Finland... WTF!
go back to the source and incorporate what I already known and (as I explained before) expand my horizons.
Expand your horizons to what? What is your end goal? Do you want to study martial arts to gain more of a historical or cultural perspective? Do you want to have a good time? Do you want to learn to fight?
Capoeria can be quite effective. The problem is the art has no middle ground. You either go at it very light-hearted or you accept the ruthlessness that swinging more than 15% of your entire body weight should have behind it. Just an opinion, though.
Han Moo Da: A Koren based martial art founded in Finland... WTF!
I hope I get this right, time is not good for memory. So Young Suk was a korean guy who came to Finland to teach Taekwondo. At some point he noticed that many of his student's also practised other, different, martial arts. That gave Young Suk an idea to create a martial art that combines different kind of techniques under same name. So Han Moo Do was born. Also: (Tough that video is clearly made from high-level material, I think that most of the people in the video are black belts, or close, so I never was quite that good)
If martial arts movies have taught me anything, it's that if you see an old grey bastard laughing at you as you're about to attack, no matter how well armed you are, run the hell away.
If martial arts movies have taught me anything, it's that if you see an old grey bastard laughing at you as you're about to attack, no matter how well armed you are, run the hell away.
This. All of the most badass people I have ever met are over the age of fifty.
I am currently taking Tae Kwan Do and I find it fun and definitely not a waste of time. I'm a rather low rank, but only because I've just started again recently and I was doing it a long time ago. But also, I wanted to say that from what I know, Tae Kwan Do and the Chinese Tai Chi are rather similar. I was taught some Tai Chi from an old master (yes, he was old, no, he wasn't small and he didn't wear any kind of robe...) and many of the movements are quite similar in the Tai Chi forms. You do basically the same kind of blocks and punches and such. I wouldn't say they're completely similar though.
I forget things in my old age.
If martial arts movies have taught me anything, it's that if you see an old grey bastard laughing at you as you're about to attack, no matter how well armed you are, run the hell away.
Unless, of course, you yourself are an old grey bastard.
I teach and take. Though I'm a low rank, because of my previous experiences I'm allowed to teach. I don't get paid or anything, but it's still a good experience. (And it's not that I am the one who teaches the whole class, I help out the main instructors, there are a bunch like me.) And at the same time I take classes so I can progress.
Aaah, okay. That makes sense. So basically, your official rank is lower than your, shall we say "practical" rank?
That about sums it up. :] But I am ranking up rather easily so it won't take me too long.
That about sums it up. :] But I am ranking up rather easily so it won't take me too long.
I'm in a sorta similar situation in judo. I'm still a judo white belt, but because of my BJJ experience, I can give black belts a hard time on the ground. My throws have a bit of a head start as well, though not nearly so much as my groundwork. I'm still not exactly sure how ranking works in judo, but I expect to rank up relatively soon.
So you held a higher rank before, but you don't get to keep it?
That about sums it up. :] But I am ranking up rather easily so it won't take me too long.
I'm in a sorta similar situation in judo. I'm still a judo white belt, but because of my BJJ experience, I can give black belts a hard time on the ground. My throws have a bit of a head start as well, though notnearlyso much as my groundwork. I'm still not exactly sure how ranking works in judo, but I expect to rank up relatively soon.
So you held a higher rank before, but you don't get to keep it?
No, with most Tae Kwan Do studios, if you are new there you start off from the beginning. Usually, even if you've had previous experience. It doesn't bother me though.
So, I did my first judo tournament tonight. Long story short, I got second place.
Long story long: My first match was against a guy who outweighed me by 50 pounds, and was a wrestler. He kept overwhelming me with his strength and size, and he threw me with a couple of non-scoring throws. At one point, I was already exhausted, and I looked at the clock, saw that there was still 1:15 left, and despaired. Then he threw me for another non-scoring throw (we both went to the ground face down). This time, I got his back and choked him for the win.
Immediately after that match was over, they were calling me for my second match. What?!? Apparently, they'd made a mistake with the brackets, so they said they'd give me a short rest. I got to rest for one match (probably about five minutes) before my second fight. So I got five minutes rest after fighting this monster, and my second opponent hadn't fought yet. This guy was about my size, and it was an incredible relief -- he wasn't strong at all. He hit a couple of non-scoring throws that took us both down, and he immediately went to his back and tried to work from guard -- obviously a jiu-jitsu guy. I started to set up a guard pass, but you get stood up pretty quickly in judo if nothing decisive is happening. After the standup, I hit a pretty solid foot sweep for the win.
Third match -- this guy had already beaten one of my training partners with a hard throw in about five seconds, so I was pretty apprehensive. It went down about like the first one, although quicker and a lot less grueling. He throws me for a non-scoring throw, I take his back and choke. Funny thing is, even not having trained jiu-jitsu in almost four years, taking the back and setting hooks is still so instinctive that I don't even remember doing it in either match.
At this point, I thought I'd won, because I'd won three fights in a row, and everyone else in my division had lost at least once, but I didn't know how a double-elimination tournament worked. I had to fight the first guy again -- the big guy. I was so exhausted by this point that he just muscled me around and beat me with some trip that I'm not sure what it was. Then I had to fight him again immediately -- this time, he ended up on top after a non-scoring throw, and got a pin. I had nothing left in the tank, and he was so damn big.
Anyway, I'm pleased with my performance overall. I'm pretty confident I would've won first if that guy hadn't been so big. At the very least, this has made me rededicate myself to some serious conditioning.
I remember in a fight in my Tang Soo Do class, I volunteered fighting against the gentleman that I mentioned was very hulking and at least 250 lbs. My master said "You are a very brave man". Since Tang So Doo is primarily based around kicking techniques (back kick, non chuck-norrisified roundhouse kick, hurricane kick, etc) we went at it. I nearly lost and probably could have broken something fighting him as he was quite fierce and very strong. However I weakened him severely with my kicks and in the end I gave him a very hard kick in the back...-THUD!!-. My pupils and my teacher just stared at me with awe, no one had ever defeated him before. I passed out briefly from the exhaustion and excitement racing through my system. After class, the man came up to me, congratulated me, and said that my kicks were as hard steel tree trunks, which I kinda blushed at and said thanks to.
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I never tried to focus on learning something that I would use in "real-life" situation. For me it was all about competing and improving my techniques.
Too bad that it's pretty hard for me to get back to it. I don't have time as I used to and I have since doing it moved, so I wouldn't know anybody if I would go and continue, and for me one big thing was also the great group-spirit that we got in Han Moo Do, got friends there and had a lot of fun with people there usually.
Han Moo Da: A Koren based martial art founded in Finland... WTF!
Direct, effective, steeped in tradition.
So Young Suk was a korean guy who came to Finland to teach Taekwondo. At some point he noticed that many of his student's also practised other, different, martial arts. That gave Young Suk an idea to create a martial art that combines different kind of techniques under same name. So Han Moo Do was born.
Also: (Tough that video is clearly made from high-level material, I think that most of the people in the video are black belts, or close, so I never was quite that good)
But also, I wanted to say that from what I know, Tae Kwan Do and the Chinese Tai Chi are rather similar. I was taught some Tai Chi from an old master (yes, he was old, no, he wasn't small and he didn't wear any kind of robe...) and many of the movements are quite similar in the Tai Chi forms. You do basically the same kind of blocks and punches and such. I wouldn't say they're completely similar though.
Unless, of course, you yourself are an old grey bastard.
:]
But I am ranking up rather easily so it won't take me too long.
So you held a higher rank before, but you don't get to keep it?
Long story long:
My first match was against a guy who outweighed me by 50 pounds, and was a wrestler. He kept overwhelming me with his strength and size, and he threw me with a couple of non-scoring throws. At one point, I was already exhausted, and I looked at the clock, saw that there was still 1:15 left, and despaired. Then he threw me for another non-scoring throw (we both went to the ground face down). This time, I got his back and choked him for the win.
Immediately after that match was over, they were calling me for my second match. What?!? Apparently, they'd made a mistake with the brackets, so they said they'd give me a short rest. I got to rest for one match (probably about five minutes) before my second fight. So I got five minutes rest after fighting this monster, and my second opponent hadn't fought yet. This guy was about my size, and it was an incredible relief -- he wasn't strong at all. He hit a couple of non-scoring throws that took us both down, and he immediately went to his back and tried to work from guard -- obviously a jiu-jitsu guy. I started to set up a guard pass, but you get stood up pretty quickly in judo if nothing decisive is happening. After the standup, I hit a pretty solid foot sweep for the win.
Third match -- this guy had already beaten one of my training partners with a hard throw in about five seconds, so I was pretty apprehensive. It went down about like the first one, although quicker and a lot less grueling. He throws me for a non-scoring throw, I take his back and choke. Funny thing is, even not having trained jiu-jitsu in almost four years, taking the back and setting hooks is still so instinctive that I don't even remember doing it in either match.
At this point, I thought I'd won, because I'd won three fights in a row, and everyone else in my division had lost at least once, but I didn't know how a double-elimination tournament worked. I had to fight the first guy again -- the big guy. I was so exhausted by this point that he just muscled me around and beat me with some trip that I'm not sure what it was. Then I had to fight him again immediately -- this time, he ended up on top after a non-scoring throw, and got a pin. I had nothing left in the tank, and he was so damn big.
Anyway, I'm pleased with my performance overall. I'm pretty confident I would've won first if that guy hadn't been so big. At the very least, this has made me rededicate myself to some serious conditioning.
Since Tang So Doo is primarily based around kicking techniques (back kick, non chuck-norrisified roundhouse kick, hurricane kick, etc) we went at it. I nearly lost and probably could have broken something fighting him as he was quite fierce and very strong. However I weakened him severely with my kicks and in the end I gave him a very hard kick in the back...-THUD!!-. My pupils and my teacher just stared at me with awe, no one had ever defeated him before. I passed out briefly from the exhaustion and excitement racing through my system. After class, the man came up to me, congratulated me, and said that my kicks were as hard steel tree trunks, which I kinda blushed at and said thanks to.