Martial Arts Experiences Discussion Thread

[max808]

Uriah Hall Teaches How to Throw a Spinning Hook Kick

https://youtu.be/bUUE3xpZ550

Uriah Hall Spinning Hook Kick KO:

https://youtu.be/Bj3xL9zoY1M

Jim

Goodness gracious that's a vicious KO. You can tell Uriah felt bad for the guy, a lil guilty even for putting him down like that. Thanks for sharing Jim. Here's hoping he didn't suffer any permanent brain damage from that hit.

[James Y]

Boys Sparring (Sanda/Kickboxing)

https://youtube.com/shorts/bGS6CPb6fCo?feature=share

Jim

[James Y]

Boxer Girl Got Hands!

https://youtube.com/shorts/IjgFXqbiRwE?feature=share

Jim

[James Y]

Smoke Shop Owner Defends Himself With Knife During Robbery

(Two videos below)

The security cam footage, and the news report on it. I'm almost 100% certain that the uncut security cam footage will be taken off of YouTube sooner than later, so watch it while you can.

Security cam footage:

https://youtu.be/XfJQFHGrBwI

News report:

https://youtu.be/OD7puHMoeVM

Not martial arts-related (AFAIK), but very interesting. It's impressive how outwardly calm and decisive the clerk was in his actions under sudden stress. IMO, this was a clear case of justifiable self-defense. When that punk jumped the counter, there was no way the clerk could have known what his intentions were, or if the guy had had a gun or a knife himself. Hopefully, the legal system will see it in the same light.

Many years ago, a small, family-run market in my area that I used to frequent, hired an area homeless man, who was a GOOD man, to work the counter and help him out in his life. He was well-liked and was turning his life around. Late one night while this man was working in the store alone, a robber wearing a halloween mask and a hoodie came in and held him up at gunpoint. He cooperated and was shot dead, which was partially caught on security cam, and was shown on the local news. Only one of the reasons I have such strong feelings on this type of subject, and why I feel zero sympathy when things go bad *for the robbers.*

Jim

[James Y]

When a Bully Travels an Hour to a Boxing Gym and Challenges the Boxing Coach

This boxing coach is admirable; he showed a TON of restraint.

https://youtu.be/oOKI7hknAJ4

Jim

[Takuan]

When a Bully Travels an Hour to a Boxing Gym and Challenges the Boxing Coach

This boxing coach is admirable; he showed a TON of restraint.

Jim

Yeah, that coach definitely showed some restraint. We used to have this kind of thing happen a lot in Hawaii. Some tough guy would show up and say, “I want to fight one of the coaches!” I’d typically put him with my 125 lb. female assistant instructor who was a pro MMA fighter. Good times!

[vivi]

https://vidsli.com/watch/H5cyP2YwXx

longer haired one is someone I trained with. cool to see him pull off such a clean first round win like that. he looked really composed in there.

[James Y]

When a Bully Travels an Hour to a Boxing Gym and Challenges the Boxing Coach

This boxing coach is admirable; he showed a TON of restraint.

Jim

Yeah, that coach definitely showed some restraint. We used to have this kind of thing happen a lot in Hawaii. Some tough guy would show up and say, “I want to fight one of the coaches!” I’d typically put him with my 125 lb. female assistant instructor who was a pro MMA fighter. Good times!

That kind of stuff used to happen once in a blue moon when I studied Kenpo. If they persisted, my teacher would throw the boxing gloves at the guy and spar him. Not gently, either.

Later, while training with my second Mantis teacher in Taiwan, there were several incidents where troublemakers came and disrespected my teacher and/or the students, especially the beginner students. These were advanced students from other teachers and styles. Most of the time my teacher took the challenges, but after awhile, I (and one other student) started accepting the challenges, on the condition that if they could beat one of us, then the teacher would fight them. No one got past either me or my classmate. I would hurt them, but my classmate had a bigger mean streak and would hurt them worse. After awhile, word got around and challengers stopped coming around, because they were losing face.

Jim

[James Y]

https://vidsli.com/watch/H5cyP2YwXx

longer haired one is someone I trained with. cool to see him pull off such a clean first round win like that. he looked really composed in there.

Awesome, vivi! Thanks for sharing. That looked effortless. The opponent looked asleep before he hit the mat.

Jim

[James Y]

RIP, "Judo" Gene LeBell

One of the most respected figures in martial arts, wrestling, and MMA circles has passed away, just two months shy of his 90th birthday. I'm not linking any articles or video tributes yet, because the ones I've seen so far have criminally understated his achievements. I will mention that he was in the first-ever televised "mixed martial arts" match (Judo vs boxing) in 1963, against professional boxer Milo Savage, in which LeBell took the boxer down and choked him unconscious. I posted a video of that much earlier in this thread. But that was only one achievement out of countless achievements in his lifetime.

The list of famous martial artists and professional fighters he either taught or worked with is astounding. If you're interested, look it up.

Jim

[Takuan]

Sorry to hear about Gene LeBell. I guess this means Steven Seagal can finally come out of hiding.

[James Y]

Sorry to hear about Gene LeBell. I guess this means Steven Seagal can finally come out of hiding.

Jim

[James Y]

“Street Fighters” Challenge Kickboxers Rukiya Anpo & Kosei Yamada

The challengers must have been expected beforehand, since the shot of them walking into the gym looks almost acted, or professionally done. The sparring itself is VERY real. In my experience and observation, it’s a lot worse taking a body shot, either to the liver or the solar plexus, than to the head, at least in terms of feeling it. Sometimes someone who can withstand head and face shots will quit, or will be unable to continue, after taking a really good body shot to one of those areas.

https://youtu.be/sXOGiOMmteE

Jim

[James Y]

Bruce Lee Practicing in Front of a Mirror

*Short Video Below*

A very brief clip taken from the movie Way of the Dragon (1972). It takes place in the apartment of an Italian prostitute (played by Malisa Longo). A second after this clip ends, Malisa Longo enters the room bare-chested, upon which Bruce Lee comically flees. Which luckily, the uploader cut out, or I couldn't be posting this here.

The entire scene was cut out of the American theatrical release (which they renamed Return of the Dragon), leaving only the scene where the prostitute approaches Bruce Lee out in public, right in front of Nora Miao, and cuts to him running back to Nora's apartment, with no continuity. Why American distributors cut out this little scene is beyond me. Possibly the brief glimpse of a topless Malisa Longo, but why? The movie was rated R in the States back then, and many R-rated films showed far more. The scene was comedic, and meant to highlight the naivety of Lee's character, a country bumpkin from Hong Kong who is totally out of his element in Rome.

The first time i ever saw the movie with this scene in it was actually in a movie theater in Hong Kong in 1985, when they re-released Way of the Dragon on the 12th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death. It was the very first of my mandatory twice-yearly visa trips out of Taiwan.

TBH, back in the day, I saw others in person who could move as fast as Bruce Lee looked on film, in terms of pure speed of movement. Many people are in awe of his speed, but it's more than that. Bruce Lee possessed sudden, explosive burst speed. It looks really easy, because he made it look easy. In truth, relatively few black belt-level martial artists can or could ever move with such sudden explosiveness, combined with such ease and grace.

Many people have the moves, the technique. Their limbs can move that quickly. But not many martial artists have the sudden explosiveness and perfect body control that BL had. He didn't just flick his arms and legs out and back; he generated speed and power from his core. The difference is subtle but palpable. I have seen a few martial artists and athletes who have sudden speed comparable to Bruce Lee, and who could maintain incredible speed, probably in longer combinations than BL could in a single burst. The only one I met who had virtually identical initial burst speed AND explosiveness to Bruce Lee was one of my teachers' teachers, Master Zhang in Taiwan.

https://youtu.be/ioisJBkJozw

Jim

[James Y]

CTE: The Disturbing Cost of Combat Sports

CTE occurs not only from boxing, American football and MMA, but also in soccer (from heading the ball), professional (scripted) wrestling, etc.

I remember back in the early 2000s, when MMA's popularity really began to take off, reading comments online from MMA fighters and enthusiasts scoffing at the notion that CTE could happen to MMA fighters. Such people claimed at the time that there were no cases of it in MMA, because unlike boxing, they weren't limited to punching each other, like in boxing. Back then I thought, "Unlike boxing, MMA is still a new sport. Give it some time and you will see it." UNHAPPILY, I was right. I started noticing MMA fighters starting to slur their speech many years ago. It seemed to happened more quickly to fighters who liked engaging in "bangers," trading punches and displaying their durability. Of course, because they were taking more head shots. The types of fights that get "Fight of the Night" accolades.

https://youtu.be/EU4AhFFSlLg

Jim

[Takuan]

Thanks, James. Bennet Omalu was a keynote speaker at an academic conference at my college several years ago and I was lucky enough to be part of a group that had lunch with him. I asked him about the dangers of different forms of martial arts training and he was adamant that any type of impulsive force to the head could cause CTE. I’m fortunate that my MMA/JKD instructor always had us spar with light-to-medium power while wearing headgear with a metal face cage, but I worry now that even than much contact might have caused brain damage (not to mention all those years of the so-called “gentle art” of judo ). The older I get, the more I favor my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.

[James Y]

Thanks, James. Bennet Omalu was a keynote speaker at an academic conference at my college several years ago and I was lucky enough to be part of a group that had lunch with him. I asked him about the dangers of different forms of martial arts training and he was adamant that any type of impulsive force to the head could cause CTE. I’m fortunate that my MMA/JKD instructor always had us spar with light-to-medium power while wearing headgear with a metal face cage, but I worry now that even than much contact might have caused brain damage (not to mention all those years of the so-called “gentle art” of judo ). The older I get, the more I favor my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.

Thanks for sharing, Takuan. I sometimes wonder myself from the sparring I’ve done in the past. In the places I trained, we didn’t actually go full-contact to the head. It was mostly moderate contact, with light contact to the head, and sometimes with full-contact to the body, if we used body protectors. Although we normally didn’t have protective head gear in class. The only full-contact I experienced was in actual competition. And luckily, I didn’t take as many head shots as a lot of people do, because I always trained to protect my head. I still took some head shots, though, including a couple of full-out head kicks; one of which the referee stopped the match after a full-bore roundhouse kick to my head sent me off my feet. My opponent had actually kicked the inside of my protecting arm against my own head, so his foot hadn’t struck my head directly, but the kick had tremendous force. I jumped back to my feet too quickly, heard “turbines” in my ears, and clearly couldn’t continue. Luckily, the ref saw that and stopped it. That one was definitely a concussion, even though I was never laid out on the floor, or unconscious. That was in 1989.

I’m 59 now, and so far, my long-and short-term memory is as good as ever, so I’m really not worried about it. I’ve seen some boxers (all of whom took a LOT of head shots in their careers), who lived well into old age and seem to retain all their mental and physical faculties.

TBH, I no longer spar anymore. I sparred for more than 30 years, but the last time I free-sparred was in 2009.

Yeah, I think in general, BJJ is safer for brain health than Judo.

Jim

[James Y]

Palm Strike Variants (by Lee Morrison)

https://youtu.be/5MgCLbWw_eg

Jim

[James Y]

Low/High Slap (by Lee Morrison)

https://youtu.be/njejE__lFwM

Jim

[James Y]

How to Deal With a Sudden Boxing Guard (by Lee Morrison)

Lee Morrison is adapting this technique, Jut Sau, to modern self-defense combatives from Wing Chun. I've never practiced Wing Chun (though I have sparred Wing Chun men), but northern-style Tanglangquan (Praying Mantis style), which I did train for many years, has a very similar technique. And Lee Morrison shows some very effective strategies for applying this skill for this type of situation. More important than this or any other single technique by itself, is how it is adapted and strategically applied.

https://youtu.be/V-fH9EjxsDw

Jim