Thursday, March 31, 2016
What is A Martial Artist? Self Defense in Martial Arts Today
Our reason for uploading this video is to inform the public about the true definition of a martial artist. The goal of the video is to remind martial artists the reality of martial arts practice and to give insight to people considering taking up martial arts. We apologize for the length of the video (since our channel's goal was to keep videos very short) but we felt that it was necessary in order to get the message across. This video is rather old, but we are posting it on the blog since not many have seen it.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Martial Arts are NOT Dead
There was an article some time ago about why martial arts is dead. In the article, the person states that while mma is growing so popular and is actually a great means to learn how to fight and defend yourself, they also stated how the "honor" and "respect" that traditional martial arts value has been lost. He went on to say that people like Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen, and so on are bad examples of martial arts, while people like lyoto machida (of course -_-), anderson silva, and fedor emelianako are great examples of martial artists.
Before I rebuttle back to this person's arguement, I want to first mention lyoto machida. It seems like EVERY SINGLE TIME, people always mention lyoto machida for his "respect" and "honor". Here's why I think people like him so much, because he makes it look like Karate works. Shots fired. It doesn't work. Not by itself. He took up MANY other martial arts (legitimate ones like wrestling bjj boxing and muay thai, NOT aikido or some shit) and that allowed him VERY FEW karate techniques to be used.
Anyways.
Martial arts is not dead. It is actually more alive than before. Before the UFC, people were practicing utter bullshido. And while it's still happening today, it is not nearly as prominent, as mma is the fastest growing sport in the world. MMA has allowed styles to change accordingly and presents a unique blend of what works and what doesn't.
Isn't it not respectful to show someone real martial arts? Is it not showing integrity when you wear fake 8 degrees? Is it not being courteous when you reject a person's questions about the legitimacy of a technique ?
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Before I rebuttle back to this person's arguement, I want to first mention lyoto machida. It seems like EVERY SINGLE TIME, people always mention lyoto machida for his "respect" and "honor". Here's why I think people like him so much, because he makes it look like Karate works. Shots fired. It doesn't work. Not by itself. He took up MANY other martial arts (legitimate ones like wrestling bjj boxing and muay thai, NOT aikido or some shit) and that allowed him VERY FEW karate techniques to be used.
Anyways.
Martial arts is not dead. It is actually more alive than before. Before the UFC, people were practicing utter bullshido. And while it's still happening today, it is not nearly as prominent, as mma is the fastest growing sport in the world. MMA has allowed styles to change accordingly and presents a unique blend of what works and what doesn't.
Isn't it not respectful to show someone real martial arts? Is it not showing integrity when you wear fake 8 degrees? Is it not being courteous when you reject a person's questions about the legitimacy of a technique ?
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
--------------
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Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Why Taekwondo Players Have Their Hands Down
Whenever you see a Taekwondo sparring match these days, you often see the Taekwondo practioners spar with their hands down. Like really, they aren't even protecting their head.
Why is this so?
Because most points scored in Taekwondo (WTF) are to the body and not so often the head. However, when ever the opportunity arrises Taekwondo practioners throw head kicks and we see people get knocked out. This is because...well THEY DIDN'T KEEP THEIR HANDS UP.
When someone gets hit in the head, and blindsided they are much much more likely to be knocked out. Why? Because your brain can't process where the heck it came from so it goes to defense mode and shuts down.
Think about any other competition where martial artists have their hands down....um I can't think of any. I get that Dominic Cruz fights with this hands down, but that's wayyyy different considering he's actually a well rounded fighter and uses it as a strategy. Alot of Taekwondo people are lazy and don't put their hands up because its the "cool" thing to do and it takes less energy.
ITF isn't so great either. They are sooooo bouncy and yet some people still have their hands down. And the lack of full contact is disturbing. Why should you be awarded in a martial art to simply touch the opponent rather than do damage? I could on and on about this, but if you like what you see, consider checking out our Youtube Channel, as we post videos on our rants of martial arts 5 days a week.
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Martial Arts Tutor
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Why is this so?
Because most points scored in Taekwondo (WTF) are to the body and not so often the head. However, when ever the opportunity arrises Taekwondo practioners throw head kicks and we see people get knocked out. This is because...well THEY DIDN'T KEEP THEIR HANDS UP.
When someone gets hit in the head, and blindsided they are much much more likely to be knocked out. Why? Because your brain can't process where the heck it came from so it goes to defense mode and shuts down.
Think about any other competition where martial artists have their hands down....um I can't think of any. I get that Dominic Cruz fights with this hands down, but that's wayyyy different considering he's actually a well rounded fighter and uses it as a strategy. Alot of Taekwondo people are lazy and don't put their hands up because its the "cool" thing to do and it takes less energy.
ITF isn't so great either. They are sooooo bouncy and yet some people still have their hands down. And the lack of full contact is disturbing. Why should you be awarded in a martial art to simply touch the opponent rather than do damage? I could on and on about this, but if you like what you see, consider checking out our Youtube Channel, as we post videos on our rants of martial arts 5 days a week.
Have A Great Day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Monday, March 28, 2016
Street Fighter V Review: Why There Are So Little Characters
I know on this blog, we talk about exposing bullshido and promoting real martial arts. However, I am also a fan of video games and I recently played this game so F, it I'm going to give you a brief review.
I'm no gaming expert. I'm really just a casual player. So I'm not going to talk about the science stuff that people talk about when going over a fighting game.
I never played the story mode and strictly played it multiplayer. As a game, I can tell you it's fairly fun. There aren't very many characters however, yet they all have a unique fighting style, whereas the other games it was packed with characters but alot of them fought similarly.
The smoothness of the game is pretty good and definitly an improvement of the previous one. However if you are looking for a game that will last you a long time, this one will not. It gets boring after a while and i think the only reason I would play a street fighter game is because of the large roster so I wouldn't get bored. The problem with this one is that its directed more towards serious gamers rather than casuals.
I'd give this game a 7/10
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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I'm no gaming expert. I'm really just a casual player. So I'm not going to talk about the science stuff that people talk about when going over a fighting game.
I never played the story mode and strictly played it multiplayer. As a game, I can tell you it's fairly fun. There aren't very many characters however, yet they all have a unique fighting style, whereas the other games it was packed with characters but alot of them fought similarly.
The smoothness of the game is pretty good and definitly an improvement of the previous one. However if you are looking for a game that will last you a long time, this one will not. It gets boring after a while and i think the only reason I would play a street fighter game is because of the large roster so I wouldn't get bored. The problem with this one is that its directed more towards serious gamers rather than casuals.
I'd give this game a 7/10
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Saturday, March 26, 2016
The Future Blog Posts
Hello everyone,
So starting today I will be posting blog posts 5 days a week as opposed to 7. My schedule has been a bit busier and instead of coming up with more blog material for those 2 days, I'm going to be working on youtube videos for the week to make sure they are at a higher quality. Thanks for checking out my blog and remember to check out our infamous. Youtube channel!
Have a great day,
Martial arts tutor
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Pros And Cons Of UFC 200 Potential Matchups
While I could talk about the other cards, I'm mainly talking about the main card since most of you reading this probably only care about who Connor Mcgregor will fight.
Here we go:
Mcgregor Vs Diaz 2
Pros: The last fight was a total slugfest, they went ham for 2 rounds and definitely an upset nevertheless a great fight to watch. There was alot of potential for either of them to lose so it was a good fight.
Cons: Alot of people think it might be too soon. In addition, Connor will once again dodge the featherweight division and it's not fair to the other fighters. Besides, there's nothing to gain from the fight for either of them, no ranking up for a title shot for beating someone in another weight class.
Mcgregor Vs Aldo 2
Pros: Many people didn't get to see what Aldo could do to Mcgregor. It's all very unknown. Maybe this time Aldo won't let Mcgregor get into his head, and will actually put up a good fight this time with his devastating leg kicks and excellent precision with his techniques.
Cons: Mcgregor was beating the shit out of Diaz in the first round. I couldn't help but think to myself that Aldo would get knocked out too. And its usually easier to get knocked out after being knocked out once. I don't want to pay 60 bucks to witness another 1st round knockout.
Mcgregor Vs Edgar
Pros: This fight only makes sense. Edgar has been wanting this fight for a very long time and quite frankly he has proven himself worthy of it. His wrestling will be something interesting for Mcgregor to deal with. Besides, it edgar wins, we will get to probably see an aldo vs edgar 2.
Cons: Some people really want Aldo to fight mcgregor again, and if mcgregor loses then this won't happen.
Mcgregor Vs George St. Pierre
Pros: It's fuckin GSP
Cons: It probably won't ever happen
Have A great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Here we go:
Mcgregor Vs Diaz 2
Pros: The last fight was a total slugfest, they went ham for 2 rounds and definitely an upset nevertheless a great fight to watch. There was alot of potential for either of them to lose so it was a good fight.
Cons: Alot of people think it might be too soon. In addition, Connor will once again dodge the featherweight division and it's not fair to the other fighters. Besides, there's nothing to gain from the fight for either of them, no ranking up for a title shot for beating someone in another weight class.
Mcgregor Vs Aldo 2
Pros: Many people didn't get to see what Aldo could do to Mcgregor. It's all very unknown. Maybe this time Aldo won't let Mcgregor get into his head, and will actually put up a good fight this time with his devastating leg kicks and excellent precision with his techniques.
Cons: Mcgregor was beating the shit out of Diaz in the first round. I couldn't help but think to myself that Aldo would get knocked out too. And its usually easier to get knocked out after being knocked out once. I don't want to pay 60 bucks to witness another 1st round knockout.
Mcgregor Vs Edgar
Pros: This fight only makes sense. Edgar has been wanting this fight for a very long time and quite frankly he has proven himself worthy of it. His wrestling will be something interesting for Mcgregor to deal with. Besides, it edgar wins, we will get to probably see an aldo vs edgar 2.
Cons: Some people really want Aldo to fight mcgregor again, and if mcgregor loses then this won't happen.
Mcgregor Vs George St. Pierre
Pros: It's fuckin GSP
Cons: It probably won't ever happen
Have A great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Thursday, March 24, 2016
Will Lifting Weights Make Me Slow? Martial Arts
Traditionally, people have thought that lifting weights in Martial arts or any combat sport will make a person more sluggish and slow. While there is some truth to that, there is a very great benefit to lifting weights while doing martial arts.
Now, it depends on "how" you lift weights. If you lift like a body builder, then yes you will become sluggish and you will "look" good but it won't help you with the explosive power you need for a fight. You need to lift like a power lifter. What do I mean? Low reps, high intensity about 80% of your 1 repetition max. Also, you need to time when you lift weights. Don't lift weights every single day, try to find 3 days of weight lifting in addition to your skills training. Also, listen to your body. If you are recieving DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) then you may have to modify what you are doing, but DONT stop or it will hurt you in the long run.
Also, stretching is VERY important as well as your eating habits. If you eat like shit, lift weights, don't stretch then yes you will be very sluggish in your movements. But by getting more strong, you will allow yourself an edge of competitors especially if you combine your skill with the strength. Nobody can argue becoming more strong will make not make you hit harder.
So to answer the question, yes but it all depends on how you train. Train smart, and don't lift massive weights right before a fight, give yourself time to recover, and remember; don't lift like a body builder, lift like a power lifter.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Now, it depends on "how" you lift weights. If you lift like a body builder, then yes you will become sluggish and you will "look" good but it won't help you with the explosive power you need for a fight. You need to lift like a power lifter. What do I mean? Low reps, high intensity about 80% of your 1 repetition max. Also, you need to time when you lift weights. Don't lift weights every single day, try to find 3 days of weight lifting in addition to your skills training. Also, listen to your body. If you are recieving DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) then you may have to modify what you are doing, but DONT stop or it will hurt you in the long run.
Also, stretching is VERY important as well as your eating habits. If you eat like shit, lift weights, don't stretch then yes you will be very sluggish in your movements. But by getting more strong, you will allow yourself an edge of competitors especially if you combine your skill with the strength. Nobody can argue becoming more strong will make not make you hit harder.
So to answer the question, yes but it all depends on how you train. Train smart, and don't lift massive weights right before a fight, give yourself time to recover, and remember; don't lift like a body builder, lift like a power lifter.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The B.S Of No Water Breaks in Martial Arts
A long time ago (about 2012) I went to a Taekwondo seminar in California. It consisted of Taekwondo masters of various backgrounds who all had something to teach us about martial arts. Other than indoctrinated bullshido that mma is bad and how hapkido is the most effective style of self defense (which it isn't) they also did something very stupid....no water breaks.
It was really really hot outside. And even hotter inside. We were inside a warehouse with the temperature about 90 degrees. Now I know some of you may live in warmer climates but trust me, when you are in a room with sweaty people it gets very hot.
I'm not sure if many have you have experienced this, but there's this macho attitude that drinking water when it's not time is bad, and that you have to wait till the instructor gives you permission. Even when giving permission is 2 hours away. What's really ironic is that the hosting master's wife was a....wait for it.....personal trainer and kinesiologist. She even went over PNF stretching and nutrition as part of her seminar. She shunned me and some other people for attempting to drink some water at the water fountain when there was some down time. I mean what the hell? She also felt like we were being rude by having our hands on our hips when someone was talking...I could go on about the crazy chick, perhaps in a Youtube video some time.
Water is very important, you need alot of water to drink, especially when it's quickly leaving your body through sweat, which makes you need even more. Not drinking water can have some serious health problems in the short run and long run. This is why traditional martial art schools that promote this bullshido need to cease from existence.
Drink water!
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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It was really really hot outside. And even hotter inside. We were inside a warehouse with the temperature about 90 degrees. Now I know some of you may live in warmer climates but trust me, when you are in a room with sweaty people it gets very hot.
I'm not sure if many have you have experienced this, but there's this macho attitude that drinking water when it's not time is bad, and that you have to wait till the instructor gives you permission. Even when giving permission is 2 hours away. What's really ironic is that the hosting master's wife was a....wait for it.....personal trainer and kinesiologist. She even went over PNF stretching and nutrition as part of her seminar. She shunned me and some other people for attempting to drink some water at the water fountain when there was some down time. I mean what the hell? She also felt like we were being rude by having our hands on our hips when someone was talking...I could go on about the crazy chick, perhaps in a Youtube video some time.
Water is very important, you need alot of water to drink, especially when it's quickly leaving your body through sweat, which makes you need even more. Not drinking water can have some serious health problems in the short run and long run. This is why traditional martial art schools that promote this bullshido need to cease from existence.
Drink water!
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
------------
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Tuesday, March 22, 2016
What is the Strongest Kick?
Yesterday, I made a post about the strongest punch. Today I will be telling you the strongest kick. The truth of the matter is, a kick has much more variables as far as power than a punch. The angle, velocity and speed all take into account, which is the same as a punch, however more difficult to execute.
I've narrowed it down to two kicks, and then I will tell you which one is the strongest one.
The first kick would be a taekwondo back kick. By creating a twist and turn with your body, you are generating alot of power and force focused on the heel. I've seen fights end with a solid back kick to the liver. It travels alot of distance over a short period of time making it a very powerful kick.
The other kick, would be a flying knee. Not only does this kick travel a distance generating more power, it also is focused on the hardest part of the leg, the knee. A vast majority of fights end with a solid knee to the head or ribs often breaking them.
So which one is stronger?
I would have to say the flying knee. Why? Because not only can you flying knee somebody, at the same time you could drive their head into your knee thus creating even more power. That is impossible to do with a back kick. Don't get me wrong, still a great kick, but still not as strong as a flying knee.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Monday, March 21, 2016
What Punch is the Strongest?
If you ever watched fight science, a "science" show that displays a vast array of martial arts, and showcases which one seems to have the best techniques, you probably finished the show scratching your head thinking "What the heck? Caeporia really?".
While I could go on and on why the experiments were flawed (to name a few: different weight classes, different techniques (front kick...really), different limb length, gloves vs no gloves) one thing is certain, boxing has to have the strongest punch. That's ALL they work on, punches. Yes, Muay thai fighters work on punches too....but boxing is only art that focuses on purely that.
I can already sense it....some of you are thinking BUT WHAT ABOUT WING CHUN! No...sorry, wing chun does not have the strongest punch. Please stop fantizising over ip man 2/3. Geesh.
Anyways, in boxing, I would say the hook is the strongest punch. This is because of the twist it makes on the body and the delivering force and speed it requires. An overhand right is great as well, but the percentage of knockouts by hook is high.
Tomorrow I will go over the strongest kick.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Sunday, March 20, 2016
Top Ten BEST Martial Arts
Yesterday, we did a blog post on the top ten worst martial arts. Today, I will be giving you the top ten best martial arts. We also did a Youtube vide on this topic, yet not as popular as the top ten worst.
1. Judo
2. Boxing
3. Kickboxing
4. Muay Thai
5. Wrestling
6. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
7. Sanda
8. Sambo
9. Daido Juku Karate-Do (Kudo)
10. MMA
Check out our youtube video for the full review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvUousYrUsQ
Have a great day,
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1. Judo
2. Boxing
3. Kickboxing
4. Muay Thai
5. Wrestling
6. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
7. Sanda
8. Sambo
9. Daido Juku Karate-Do (Kudo)
10. MMA
Check out our youtube video for the full review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvUousYrUsQ
Have a great day,
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Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Top 10 WORST Martial Arts
We did a Youtube video a while back that stirred up quite a bit of controversy and received hate from all over the world. The video was titled "The Top Ten Worst Martial Art Styles". In this video we went over the reason why some of the most popular styles are greatly flawed compared to the styles that have been tested and proven to work. Now, again, as we say in every video and post, not every single school is bad just because of their style. However, by our research and personal experience we do say a majority of schools containing the following styles are usually bad:
(They are also in order of least crappy, to the most crappy)
#1 Karate
The best of the worst. Don't get me wrong, kyokushin practioners are tough as nails but they have a huge flaw of no punches to the head. On the other hand, you've got shotokan guys who play paddi cake in their point tournaments. Now, I know some of you are going to say "What about Lyoto Machida?? Can you kick his ass?" . And like a normal sane person, I will say of course not. However, HE COMBINED IT WITH MUAY THAI AND JIU JITSU. That being said, as a striking style, traditional karate sucks by itself.
#2 Taekwondo
You may have seen our blog posts and videos on our views of Taekwondo. Of course we have come to hate it as an impractical style that tries to copy karate. But worse. No leg kicks and they keep their hands down in every match. You can say all you want about the ufc fighters again, but they combined it with other things. I will no longer say that as you can pretty much say that with every style I'm going to mention.
#3Capoeria
This is a break dancing style....are you kidding me?
#4 Hapkido
I could go on for days on hapkido. They basically just combine shitty taekwondo with really shitty aikido and fake judo and pretend it's mma....when its more like learning how to beat someone up who's not even trying to fight back in a fancy way.
#5Modern Ninjitsu
Ninjitsu in the past was the art of the assasin. Nowadays its just a bunch of guys in pajamas, doing handstands, throwing ninja stars, and learning fake pressure points that never work on a real agressor.
#6Wing Chun
The dumbest stance in the world. The worst defense possible (leg kicks, punches to the face, not takedown ready). The worst offense every (linear punches and no taking of angles). Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie ip man. However, even in a fixed fight scene with the boxer, he wasn't boxing at all. He was punching from his rib cage. Boxing is superior to wing chun in every way.
#7Animal Kung Fu
You are not a tiger, nor a monkey, nor a f**** praying mantis. You are a human being, fight like one.
#8 Systema
One of the greatest scams of all time. Looks great in a movie, but terrible, utterly horrible methods of self - defense. It's funny how wing chunners and sytema people collaborate.
#9Combat Tai Chi
Tai chi is not for fighting at all. It's like yoga, a form of meditation. Idk how it became a fighting system. Thanks Jake Mace.
#10 Aikido
You are literally learning how to get hurt. Like seriously, you comply with all the techinques, there is no resistance whatsoever and you learn how to flip around like a toy doll.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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(They are also in order of least crappy, to the most crappy)
#1 Karate
The best of the worst. Don't get me wrong, kyokushin practioners are tough as nails but they have a huge flaw of no punches to the head. On the other hand, you've got shotokan guys who play paddi cake in their point tournaments. Now, I know some of you are going to say "What about Lyoto Machida?? Can you kick his ass?" . And like a normal sane person, I will say of course not. However, HE COMBINED IT WITH MUAY THAI AND JIU JITSU. That being said, as a striking style, traditional karate sucks by itself.
#2 Taekwondo
You may have seen our blog posts and videos on our views of Taekwondo. Of course we have come to hate it as an impractical style that tries to copy karate. But worse. No leg kicks and they keep their hands down in every match. You can say all you want about the ufc fighters again, but they combined it with other things. I will no longer say that as you can pretty much say that with every style I'm going to mention.
#3Capoeria
This is a break dancing style....are you kidding me?
#4 Hapkido
I could go on for days on hapkido. They basically just combine shitty taekwondo with really shitty aikido and fake judo and pretend it's mma....when its more like learning how to beat someone up who's not even trying to fight back in a fancy way.
#5Modern Ninjitsu
Ninjitsu in the past was the art of the assasin. Nowadays its just a bunch of guys in pajamas, doing handstands, throwing ninja stars, and learning fake pressure points that never work on a real agressor.
#6Wing Chun
The dumbest stance in the world. The worst defense possible (leg kicks, punches to the face, not takedown ready). The worst offense every (linear punches and no taking of angles). Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie ip man. However, even in a fixed fight scene with the boxer, he wasn't boxing at all. He was punching from his rib cage. Boxing is superior to wing chun in every way.
#7Animal Kung Fu
You are not a tiger, nor a monkey, nor a f**** praying mantis. You are a human being, fight like one.
#8 Systema
One of the greatest scams of all time. Looks great in a movie, but terrible, utterly horrible methods of self - defense. It's funny how wing chunners and sytema people collaborate.
#9Combat Tai Chi
Tai chi is not for fighting at all. It's like yoga, a form of meditation. Idk how it became a fighting system. Thanks Jake Mace.
#10 Aikido
You are literally learning how to get hurt. Like seriously, you comply with all the techinques, there is no resistance whatsoever and you learn how to flip around like a toy doll.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxb90wVD6jc
Friday, March 18, 2016
The Top 3 Reasons Why I Prefer Martial Arts Over Sports
I had the opportunity to play a variety of sports when I was a kid. I played football, basketball, baseball, tennis, and track & field. However, there were three main reasons I tended to prefer martial arts over the short termed sports.
#1 What season?
The thing I love about martial arts practice is that it is all year long! There's no "breaks" from training, you get to train (hopefully) everyday if you wanted and this was something I liked alot about it.
#2 You learn a valuable tool
Unless you are in a Mcdojo (check out our youtube channel or read some of our blog posts if you are unsure what that is) you will probably learn a valuable form of self defense. If not, you're basically learning how to dance which is unfortunate in the martial arts world. But lets just assume you signed up for a legitimate art such as boxing, kickboxing, brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, mma, kudo, muay thai, sambo, sanda, or judo. You will learn not only how to be in great shape, but to know how to defend yourself which is something sports can't teach.
#3 No cuts, just endless learning
Unlike sports where you will get cut if you're not good enough, martial arts is a slower progression that allows you to develop your skills at a rate you pursue them. It's not a matter of size and strength its all about technique and efficiency. I have students who have come to me to learn martial arts who have been cut in sports and have the best attitude towards learning how to defend themselves and always show enthusiasm.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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#1 What season?
The thing I love about martial arts practice is that it is all year long! There's no "breaks" from training, you get to train (hopefully) everyday if you wanted and this was something I liked alot about it.
#2 You learn a valuable tool
Unless you are in a Mcdojo (check out our youtube channel or read some of our blog posts if you are unsure what that is) you will probably learn a valuable form of self defense. If not, you're basically learning how to dance which is unfortunate in the martial arts world. But lets just assume you signed up for a legitimate art such as boxing, kickboxing, brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, mma, kudo, muay thai, sambo, sanda, or judo. You will learn not only how to be in great shape, but to know how to defend yourself which is something sports can't teach.
#3 No cuts, just endless learning
Unlike sports where you will get cut if you're not good enough, martial arts is a slower progression that allows you to develop your skills at a rate you pursue them. It's not a matter of size and strength its all about technique and efficiency. I have students who have come to me to learn martial arts who have been cut in sports and have the best attitude towards learning how to defend themselves and always show enthusiasm.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Thursday, March 17, 2016
How To Breathe Effectively In Martial Arts
Breathing takes many forms in Martial Arts. Whether you are a traditionalist performing a "ki-hap" when doing a technique, a boxer breathing out with a strike, or a wrestler grunting when doing a suplex, each martial art has some form of breathing.
What is the most effective way to breathe?
Studies show that breathing more has a powerful impact on the mind. In fact, it calms down tension, allows more oxygen to the brain allowing a faster thinking process, and helps your immune system. This is why meditation and martial arts have been linked for a very long time. But one may ask the question, do meditative principles manifest themselves in mixed martial arts and combat sports?
It may not be so obvious, but I believe that the effects of meditative breathing are more prominent in the styles that are incorporated in mixed martial arts. Why? Because of the stress and constant pressure to be calm under not so normal circumstances. What traditional martial arts lack, is the feeling of a threat, such as almost getting choked out and remaining calm and breathing, as well as defending yourself against an attack. Now, there are some martial art schools that do spar and do benefit from this, but then again alot of time is spent on kata rather than pure application. Arts like brazilian jiu jitsu constantly put the person in a state of what seems panic, yet, they remain calm.
Next time you are sparring with somebody, breathe in with your nose. Breathing with your nose allows yourself to get a greater amount of oxygen due to the receptors in the nose. Breathing with your mouth is okay, but you might gas out a little faster. Plus, if you are a boxer, keeping your jaw in tact will greatly reduce the chance of a knockdown/knockout.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Youtube Channel - Videos 5 Days a Week
Facebook Page
What is the most effective way to breathe?
Studies show that breathing more has a powerful impact on the mind. In fact, it calms down tension, allows more oxygen to the brain allowing a faster thinking process, and helps your immune system. This is why meditation and martial arts have been linked for a very long time. But one may ask the question, do meditative principles manifest themselves in mixed martial arts and combat sports?
It may not be so obvious, but I believe that the effects of meditative breathing are more prominent in the styles that are incorporated in mixed martial arts. Why? Because of the stress and constant pressure to be calm under not so normal circumstances. What traditional martial arts lack, is the feeling of a threat, such as almost getting choked out and remaining calm and breathing, as well as defending yourself against an attack. Now, there are some martial art schools that do spar and do benefit from this, but then again alot of time is spent on kata rather than pure application. Arts like brazilian jiu jitsu constantly put the person in a state of what seems panic, yet, they remain calm.
Next time you are sparring with somebody, breathe in with your nose. Breathing with your nose allows yourself to get a greater amount of oxygen due to the receptors in the nose. Breathing with your mouth is okay, but you might gas out a little faster. Plus, if you are a boxer, keeping your jaw in tact will greatly reduce the chance of a knockdown/knockout.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Youtube Channel - Videos 5 Days a Week
Facebook Page
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Can You Stretch Cold? The Answer May Suprise You
I've been doing Martial arts for over 15 years and often times I have questioned the idea that you have to be really warm in order to do static stretches for flexibility. I know for me, I'm not so motivated to go on a jog or do jump rope and get sweaty before I stretch, especially if I am pressed for time or have to go somewhere.
The idea behind the saying "cold static stretch leads to injury" is the fact that people don't know where their stretching threshold is at. In other words, people go "too hard" in their stretch and do more damage than good. However, if you go slowly into it, and keep in mind how you feel, then it is possible to stretch cold, although it may feel like you're not as flexibile when you are warm; and you shouldn't be! You will accurately assess your flexibility when you are cold.
I'm not the only one who believe this; Dr. Mark Rosenberg, a chiropractor, martial artist, and yoga instructor also states that the biggest gains in his flexibility is when he would stretch cold. I'm not saying you go put yourself in a freezer, I'm just saying you stretch without a warm up. It gives a false sense of flexibility.
Now let's say you are warm. That's totally fine. That would just mean you definitely need to stretch harder than before. In order to get gains, you have to go about 10% past your threshold stretch when your body is warm and hold it there for I'd say about a minute to 2 minutes (or more if you can handle it).
If you have any more topics I'd like to talk about, please comment below!
Have A Great Day!
Martial Arts Tutor
-------------
Youtube Channel
Facebook Page
The idea behind the saying "cold static stretch leads to injury" is the fact that people don't know where their stretching threshold is at. In other words, people go "too hard" in their stretch and do more damage than good. However, if you go slowly into it, and keep in mind how you feel, then it is possible to stretch cold, although it may feel like you're not as flexibile when you are warm; and you shouldn't be! You will accurately assess your flexibility when you are cold.
I'm not the only one who believe this; Dr. Mark Rosenberg, a chiropractor, martial artist, and yoga instructor also states that the biggest gains in his flexibility is when he would stretch cold. I'm not saying you go put yourself in a freezer, I'm just saying you stretch without a warm up. It gives a false sense of flexibility.
Now let's say you are warm. That's totally fine. That would just mean you definitely need to stretch harder than before. In order to get gains, you have to go about 10% past your threshold stretch when your body is warm and hold it there for I'd say about a minute to 2 minutes (or more if you can handle it).
If you have any more topics I'd like to talk about, please comment below!
Have A Great Day!
Martial Arts Tutor
-------------
Youtube Channel
Facebook Page
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The Major Difference: Combat Sports Vs. Traditional Martial Arts
Years ago, people used to think that boxing, wrestling, and kickboxing among many other non-asian styles of martial arts were not martial arts. This is due to the culture that people assume that all martial arts have to be "asian" in order to be effective. Hollywood has put many people in a big trance since the 1970s..when all the kung fu / karate movies came out, people really thought that was the proper way to fight.
However, with the evolution of mma and the formation of the Ufc, people's view point have changed...at least a portion of them. Even Steven "Wonderboy" Thompson admits in an interview that Karate really sucked against grapplers. He also stated that Karate does have it's place, but he also said having learning boxing, Muay Thai, and brazilian jiu jitsu was the only way to make it work.
So what's the difference between combat sports and traditional martial arts?
Simple. It's a matter of results vs theory. Alot of traditional martial arts is based on theory; this is because they are afraid of getting hurt applying what they know. There is this bullsh** arguement that "Woah bro, my techniques are too effective, they could really hurt you" when the technique is rather rubbish and doesn't want to deal with it under pressure.
Combat sports, or mma (or anything that goes into it), is the opposite of that. The approach is if it doesn't work under resistance, it doesn't work at all, and might as well scrap it. Still, there was an idea that spinning techniques don't work in mma. However, we are seeing more and more of them; why?
That is becuase THEY HAVE A SOLID FOUNDATION OF BOXING AND WRESTLING. People are very quick to say "ah...karate is effective, look at (insert lyoto machida / gsp / ect) " But people fail to realize that they learned OTHER THINGS.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Monday, March 14, 2016
The #1 Sign Your Martial Art School Teaches Bad Self Defense
There is something we stress alot on our youtube videos, and that is the idea that something used in combat must be taught in a way that allows "live" practice. In other words, if it doesn't work in sparring, it doesn't work at all.
Recently, there's been some talk of lee hong dee, a taekwondo practioner, performing one step systems against an opponent with headgear, and people are rejoicing because they think "Ah, this is what REAL taekwondo looks like!" If you look at his channel, you see videos of wtf practioners practicing leg checks, as well as some basic boxing combinations as an answer to people who think that taekwondo practioners never practice punching the head due to that in sparring.
Is it good enough?
While I will say that hee (no pun intended) is doing better for the Taekwondo community, there is still one major flaw...
There is no...RESISTANCE
The guy literally takes a solid beating, throws really really wack attacks, inluding a crappy attempt at a double leg takedown in which hee does some aikido bs and also the typical "I will hold my hand out while I get the snot beat out of me and act like it hurts really bad". So of course those moves would work on that person who fights like that, and that is very not common at all.
So what is the number one sign your school teaches bad self defense? No resistance. You must learn that if a person is fighting you back and you succeed to pull off the technique, consider it a science experiment where your hypothesis is correct. If not, you need to do more experimenting until you find something that works.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
PS We also did a youtube video in response to Lee Dong Hee, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FnmMmqgGPs
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Recently, there's been some talk of lee hong dee, a taekwondo practioner, performing one step systems against an opponent with headgear, and people are rejoicing because they think "Ah, this is what REAL taekwondo looks like!" If you look at his channel, you see videos of wtf practioners practicing leg checks, as well as some basic boxing combinations as an answer to people who think that taekwondo practioners never practice punching the head due to that in sparring.
Is it good enough?
While I will say that hee (no pun intended) is doing better for the Taekwondo community, there is still one major flaw...
There is no...RESISTANCE
The guy literally takes a solid beating, throws really really wack attacks, inluding a crappy attempt at a double leg takedown in which hee does some aikido bs and also the typical "I will hold my hand out while I get the snot beat out of me and act like it hurts really bad". So of course those moves would work on that person who fights like that, and that is very not common at all.
So what is the number one sign your school teaches bad self defense? No resistance. You must learn that if a person is fighting you back and you succeed to pull off the technique, consider it a science experiment where your hypothesis is correct. If not, you need to do more experimenting until you find something that works.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
PS We also did a youtube video in response to Lee Dong Hee, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FnmMmqgGPs
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Sunday, March 13, 2016
Haters Gonna Hate; Why You May Be Getting Dislikes On Youtube
Our Youtube channel has gotten alot of hate this past year and for a good reason; its exposing bullshido and frankly people are getting their conscience attacked.
Often times in life and in the cyber world, we run into haters, trolls, keyboard warriors, the list goes on and on. Most of the time these people have nothing better to do with their day, so they will just hate as much as they can. These people feed off of negativity and like to make sure everyone around them experiences the same thing; like a rotten apple in a basket of good apples.
Now, there are many other youtube channels out there, that do say controversial things either on our side or more often the opposing side, and we notice that they either disable likes and dislikes and/or disable comments. It is as if they don't want to know the public's honest reaction to their video and are afraid they will be discouraged by it.
As you probably know, we upload videos 5 days a week, get plenty of hate, thousands of hateful comments and dislikes but we simply don't care and will keep going.
Why?
Because the fact that alot of people hate our videos is the reason why we make them. People are going out of their way to comment on an issue we care about very much. Also, we enjoy making videos and we are so focused and goal oriented with our channel that we simply don't let the negative comments get to us. I usually think to myself this quote whenever doubt arrises "Successful people, do what they have to do, whether they feel like it or not" - Dan Kennedy. I highly recommend you read dan kennedy's books. They are very inspiring if you want to start something that goes counter-culture. In our case the idea that traditional martial arts are bullshit for the most part nowadays.
So remember, no matter how successful you are at something you will run into people who will try to pull you down. I remember once a story told by Bedros Keulian, fitness marketing expert that said he was in canada and he was watching a bucket of crabs. To his suprise, one crab climbed atop another, then another, then another, until finally you could see his little claw going for the rim and attempting to escape. To bedros suprise, the other crabs pulled him down and each time a crab tried to escape, they were pulled down.
Don't let the crabs (haters) stop you from doing what you want, and reaching your full potential.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
P.S If you like inspirational things like this post, and you want more of it, I made new Youtube channel just for that.
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Youtube
Often times in life and in the cyber world, we run into haters, trolls, keyboard warriors, the list goes on and on. Most of the time these people have nothing better to do with their day, so they will just hate as much as they can. These people feed off of negativity and like to make sure everyone around them experiences the same thing; like a rotten apple in a basket of good apples.
Now, there are many other youtube channels out there, that do say controversial things either on our side or more often the opposing side, and we notice that they either disable likes and dislikes and/or disable comments. It is as if they don't want to know the public's honest reaction to their video and are afraid they will be discouraged by it.
As you probably know, we upload videos 5 days a week, get plenty of hate, thousands of hateful comments and dislikes but we simply don't care and will keep going.
Why?
Because the fact that alot of people hate our videos is the reason why we make them. People are going out of their way to comment on an issue we care about very much. Also, we enjoy making videos and we are so focused and goal oriented with our channel that we simply don't let the negative comments get to us. I usually think to myself this quote whenever doubt arrises "Successful people, do what they have to do, whether they feel like it or not" - Dan Kennedy. I highly recommend you read dan kennedy's books. They are very inspiring if you want to start something that goes counter-culture. In our case the idea that traditional martial arts are bullshit for the most part nowadays.
So remember, no matter how successful you are at something you will run into people who will try to pull you down. I remember once a story told by Bedros Keulian, fitness marketing expert that said he was in canada and he was watching a bucket of crabs. To his suprise, one crab climbed atop another, then another, then another, until finally you could see his little claw going for the rim and attempting to escape. To bedros suprise, the other crabs pulled him down and each time a crab tried to escape, they were pulled down.
Don't let the crabs (haters) stop you from doing what you want, and reaching your full potential.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
P.S If you like inspirational things like this post, and you want more of it, I made new Youtube channel just for that.
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Youtube
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Who Should Connor Mcgregor Defend His Featherweight Belt Against? Aldo or Edgar?
It has been confirmed by Dana White that Connor will defend his title at ufc 200, but who is connor going to fight?
At the end of the diaz fight, Connor said that he would give Jose Aldo another chance at the title because he was undefeated for 10 years, yet stated that he doesn't usually show up so he'd give edgar the chance too.
I'm going to argue both sides of who should fight.
Jose Aldo: The original champion, Jose Aldo, had never been knocked out....especially in 13 seconds. Did we truly see the complete fighter Aldo against Mcgregor? No body knows, because it ended so fast. Now, we all probably have seen (if not you should definitly look it up) that Connor actually predicted Jose's movement just moments before the fight, performing the cross like he did that ended it so quickly. The fight itself also raised ALOT of money so having an Aldo Mcgregor 2 rematch would be fitting, also because they have some beef.
Frankie Edgar: Frankie edgar is a very balanced fighter, and amazing wrestler, and others question Mcregor's ground game when it comes to facing "The Answer". Frankie edgar's record is pretty impressive, and his stature and short reach make him usually the david in the david and goliath scenario (watch benson henderson vs edgar). He's been wanting the title shot for a very long time, and it would still be entertaining to watch Mcgregor fight Edgar.
It's really a win win scenario here. If Edgar beats Mcgregor, there will be an Aldo Edgar 2. If Mcgregor beats Edgar, then there will be a Mcgregor Aldo 2. So all in all, we would still be getting some good fights.
Have a Great Day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Youtube Channel
At the end of the diaz fight, Connor said that he would give Jose Aldo another chance at the title because he was undefeated for 10 years, yet stated that he doesn't usually show up so he'd give edgar the chance too.
I'm going to argue both sides of who should fight.
Jose Aldo: The original champion, Jose Aldo, had never been knocked out....especially in 13 seconds. Did we truly see the complete fighter Aldo against Mcgregor? No body knows, because it ended so fast. Now, we all probably have seen (if not you should definitly look it up) that Connor actually predicted Jose's movement just moments before the fight, performing the cross like he did that ended it so quickly. The fight itself also raised ALOT of money so having an Aldo Mcgregor 2 rematch would be fitting, also because they have some beef.
Frankie Edgar: Frankie edgar is a very balanced fighter, and amazing wrestler, and others question Mcregor's ground game when it comes to facing "The Answer". Frankie edgar's record is pretty impressive, and his stature and short reach make him usually the david in the david and goliath scenario (watch benson henderson vs edgar). He's been wanting the title shot for a very long time, and it would still be entertaining to watch Mcgregor fight Edgar.
It's really a win win scenario here. If Edgar beats Mcgregor, there will be an Aldo Edgar 2. If Mcgregor beats Edgar, then there will be a Mcgregor Aldo 2. So all in all, we would still be getting some good fights.
Have a Great Day,
Martial Arts Tutor
Youtube Channel
Friday, March 11, 2016
Martial Arts Matchups. What Style Beats What? What is the greatest martial art?
There used to be an old saying where, there is no greatest martial art, it all depends on the person. While yes, that does make a difference, its the end all be all. I honestly think it was used as an excuse for traditional martial artists who knew that although they boasted years ago (before the gracies challenged everybody or the ufc) their style was the most superior, they wanted to save face on what they said. Still, here are some of the obvious challenge matchups that will result in the most obvious winner.
Boxing vs Wing chun - Boxing wins
Karate vs Kickboxing - Kick Boxing
Judo vs Wrestling - Wrestling
Taekwondo vs Muay Thai - Muay Thai
Any striking art vs Grappling Art - Grappling Art
This is just to name a few, but one could see the direction the world is heading. MMA is the way to go, you need to know everything. Not only how to slip or parry a jab properly, but to adress takedown defense and grappling as well. No other martial art can claim that they have takedown defense when another art could easily pin them down and keep them there. And i know some of you might have freaked out about boxing and wing chun....How dare I? Sorry, Ip man never fought an actual boxer. And movies aren't real. Neither is Santa. I hope I ruined your day.
Have a great day lol
Martial Arts Tutor
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Boxing vs Wing chun - Boxing wins
Karate vs Kickboxing - Kick Boxing
Judo vs Wrestling - Wrestling
Taekwondo vs Muay Thai - Muay Thai
Any striking art vs Grappling Art - Grappling Art
This is just to name a few, but one could see the direction the world is heading. MMA is the way to go, you need to know everything. Not only how to slip or parry a jab properly, but to adress takedown defense and grappling as well. No other martial art can claim that they have takedown defense when another art could easily pin them down and keep them there. And i know some of you might have freaked out about boxing and wing chun....How dare I? Sorry, Ip man never fought an actual boxer. And movies aren't real. Neither is Santa. I hope I ruined your day.
Have a great day lol
Martial Arts Tutor
Youtube Channel
Thursday, March 10, 2016
How To Start A Martial Arts School With No Money
With 4 years teaching experience
instructing Taekwondo to kids as little as 4 to adults as old as 50,
I can tell you that teaching people how to become fit, motivated, and
more confident is a very rewarding experience. It is my goal to one
day have a martial art school, and if you have similar goals I'm
going to give you a valuable tool that will make your dreams become a
reality.
For me, I'm not much of a reader. I
don't like books. I actually despise reading them because it always
brings back bad memories of school work and how I couldn't pass tests
because of how poorly I couldn't regurgitate information in a book.
However, when I genuinly want to learn something I usually will pick
up a book on it and read through and try to find the information I
want.
As far as a martial arts school goes,
I've looked everywhere for books on how to actually run a martial art
school business when you have …. no money to start. Still, I do
have some money, but I can tell you its not much. Not much to run a
business that's for sure. Yet, I did come across one book that struck
me.
It read... Small Dojo Big Profits (<--- Click the link to see for yourself )
Skeptical that it was a Mcdojo scam, I
looked more into it and saw that it actually was not promoting
Mcdojoism, rather it was giving instructors steps to run a martial
arts school WITHOUT making the martial art watered down. In fact, he
has had it work for many BJJ instructors, an art which in my opinion
has the least amount of mcdojoism (so far).
So if you want to start building a
clientel, start a martial art school and be financially stable with
that, I highly recommend you get this book. This is coming from a guy
who hates books, but I love his marketing strategies they are genius
and its quite affordable too.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Master Martial Artist Hiding Behind 8 Degrees
We encounter this ALOT in martial arts today. Not so common with fighting arts like kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, bjj, sambo, ect (combat sports) but more so with traditional systems like karate, judo, taekwondo (especially that one) ect.
So how do you know your master is a faker?
There are many signs of this, but one of them (and probably the most obvious) is his age. If he is under 30 years old, yet claims to be an 8th dan or something like that, then he probably forged it. I mean, who really checks for authority anyways? The WTF doesn't go out of their way to expose someone who doesn't really have 8 dans. Neither does any organization for that matter. Everyone has the freedom to claim and say and do whatever the hell they want.
Another way of telling is by his skill. If he always reminisces the past with things like "I was a world champion" or "I used to be able to fight" or " I fought ____ " (yet there's no record of it) and the list goes on and on and on. Look, living in the past doesn't do anybody any service, neither does bragging false information. Living in the present, giving your students tips and advice and being a real legitimate teacher that knows good techniques is good.
Alot of my resentment toward traditional martial arts is this weird hierarchy of master rank. There's 1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees..all the way up to 10. I've always thought being a blackbelt meant you were legit. However, alot of Masters argue (especially those with so called 8 degrees) that achieving more ranks means you're on your way to mastery and grandmastery. To me that sounds like someone is trying to make more $$$ considering how much more expensive testing in blackbelt is.
Bottom line, if your Master is an 8th degree, be skeptical of his ability first and don't fall for his story telling, you need proof and you need results in martial arts to be safe.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
P.S I personally have had an experience like this where I found out my Taekwondo instructor forged his 8th degree and really has only a 4th (maybe 5th) degree. He also faked being a hapkido master because not only was he forged real organizations on his website (two different kinds on two different pages lol) there was evidence online that he never belonged to any organization but was going to make one himself...but we all know hapkido is basically aikido so its bullshit anyways.
So how do you know your master is a faker?
There are many signs of this, but one of them (and probably the most obvious) is his age. If he is under 30 years old, yet claims to be an 8th dan or something like that, then he probably forged it. I mean, who really checks for authority anyways? The WTF doesn't go out of their way to expose someone who doesn't really have 8 dans. Neither does any organization for that matter. Everyone has the freedom to claim and say and do whatever the hell they want.
Another way of telling is by his skill. If he always reminisces the past with things like "I was a world champion" or "I used to be able to fight" or " I fought ____ " (yet there's no record of it) and the list goes on and on and on. Look, living in the past doesn't do anybody any service, neither does bragging false information. Living in the present, giving your students tips and advice and being a real legitimate teacher that knows good techniques is good.
Alot of my resentment toward traditional martial arts is this weird hierarchy of master rank. There's 1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees..all the way up to 10. I've always thought being a blackbelt meant you were legit. However, alot of Masters argue (especially those with so called 8 degrees) that achieving more ranks means you're on your way to mastery and grandmastery. To me that sounds like someone is trying to make more $$$ considering how much more expensive testing in blackbelt is.
Bottom line, if your Master is an 8th degree, be skeptical of his ability first and don't fall for his story telling, you need proof and you need results in martial arts to be safe.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
P.S I personally have had an experience like this where I found out my Taekwondo instructor forged his 8th degree and really has only a 4th (maybe 5th) degree. He also faked being a hapkido master because not only was he forged real organizations on his website (two different kinds on two different pages lol) there was evidence online that he never belonged to any organization but was going to make one himself...but we all know hapkido is basically aikido so its bullshit anyways.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
What Is A Martial Art?
While
a relatively simple question, many people today have a distorted view
of what the definition of Martial Arts is. A quick google search
states "various
sports or skills, mainly of Japanese origin, that originated as forms
of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo" ,
while a wikipedia search will say : "Martial
arts are
codified systems and traditions of combat practices,
which are practiced for a variety of reasons:
as self-defense, military and law
enforcement applications; competition, physical
fitness,
mental and spiritual development; as well as entertainment and the
preservation of a nation's intangible
cultural heritage.
Although
the term martial
art has
become associated with the fighting arts of eastern
Asia,
it originally referred to the combat systems of Europe as
early as the 1550s. The term is derived from Latin,
and means "arts of Mars",
the Roman god
of war.[1] Some
authors have argued that fighting
arts or fighting
systems would
be more appropriate on the basis that many martial arts were never
"martial" in the sense of being used or created by
professional warriors.[2]"
Are
these correct definitions of martial arts? Well, yes and no.
Nowadays,
martial arts has been watered down so much that alot of times there
is no real self-defense. For example, aikido is by far the worst
martial art for self defense so I don't see how it is a martial art
going based on the fact that martial arts originated for self-defense
or attack. While I could go on and on about various martial
arts that have become more interpreted dances rather than fighting
systems, we are seeing a great split of the martial arts today. If
you look at the wikipedia article, it states that some authors argued
that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate on
the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in
the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.
If
that's true then....why not call it dancing?
No
way man! My aikido is not dancing!
But
you just said that those martial arts were never martial.....
This
is the main problem. People don't want to admit that they don't have
fighting skill. Punching the air, kicking imaginary people, fighting
with very very limited rules does not make you a fighter nor a
martial artist. Yes, discipline and medidation are very important for
growth and development. However, you are not a martial artist if you
can't fight.
Have
a great day,
Martial
Arts Tutor
Monday, March 7, 2016
3 Signs of a Good Martial Art School
You may have seen our post on the signs for a Mcdojo, but for today, I will tell you the top 3 signs of a good martial arts school. These are only our opinions and may be further debated in the comments below. These are very brief signs, and of course there will be more qualities of a good school. We just wanted to try to narrow it down to three.
#1 Free Sparring
I'm not talking about point sparring here. Nor am I talking about Taekwondo "full contact" sparring, I'm saying sparring that includes punches (to the body AND to the head; very important), kicks, takedowns, pins, and maybe submissions if you're lucky. These schools usually are mma gyms but sometimes you may find another school that trains this way.
#2 The head instructor/owner spars with you
This is quite a rarity in martial arts nowadays. Often times work is delegated to the upcoming teachers rather than the founder of the school. While I'm not saying it's necessarily bad to delegate work, but its good to see the owner of the school personally invest time into teaching classes. This is a sign he/she truly cares about the school's progress and if he/she spars with you that means his/her skills are up to date (at least I hope so)
#3 Clean and friendly atmosphere
If you're school is not clean....then that's just an infection or sickness waiting to happen. I'm not saying the school has to be absolutely spotless, but if the mats are at least mopped twice a day from all the sweat then I would say that's good enough. I've been to some pretty gross schools and usually reflects laziness of the owner. Also, a good frienly atmosphere is a MUST. Why would you train in something you don't have fun in and can't enjoy yourself? Although some people like an atmosphere like that, personally I don't.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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#1 Free Sparring
I'm not talking about point sparring here. Nor am I talking about Taekwondo "full contact" sparring, I'm saying sparring that includes punches (to the body AND to the head; very important), kicks, takedowns, pins, and maybe submissions if you're lucky. These schools usually are mma gyms but sometimes you may find another school that trains this way.
#2 The head instructor/owner spars with you
This is quite a rarity in martial arts nowadays. Often times work is delegated to the upcoming teachers rather than the founder of the school. While I'm not saying it's necessarily bad to delegate work, but its good to see the owner of the school personally invest time into teaching classes. This is a sign he/she truly cares about the school's progress and if he/she spars with you that means his/her skills are up to date (at least I hope so)
#3 Clean and friendly atmosphere
If you're school is not clean....then that's just an infection or sickness waiting to happen. I'm not saying the school has to be absolutely spotless, but if the mats are at least mopped twice a day from all the sweat then I would say that's good enough. I've been to some pretty gross schools and usually reflects laziness of the owner. Also, a good frienly atmosphere is a MUST. Why would you train in something you don't have fun in and can't enjoy yourself? Although some people like an atmosphere like that, personally I don't.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Sunday, March 6, 2016
UFC 196 Mcgregor Vs Diaz & Holm Vs Tate Reaction
Wow....what an incredible night for jiu jitsu! Congrats to both Diaz and Tate for pulling off rear naked chokes to end the fights! And uh....obviously, spoilers. Although you probably just spoiled yourself reading that....why on earth would you look up a "reaction" when you don't want to be spoiled?
Anyways
While my heart was in Mcgregor, mostly because I thought that him winning would be interesting for the UFC, I did slowly get drawn to the will of Diaz. He was getting hit...HARD. It's like they put two hands inside of connors left arm and just hammered Diaz face in. I mean, damn that guy has got a massive jaw. For the first round, i really though Diaz was going to lose, I mean his face was really messed up and wasn't really landing many shots....until the second round. (there was a moment when I did think the capoeria kick would kick him in the face lol then people might rejoice and band together and assume connor mcgregor didn't even box and just soley used capoeria ...idiots)
The second round, Diaz pulled off a miracle. After losing pretty badly, he managed to clip Mcgregor with a two punch combination....and the rest is history. Quickly after he started getting him more and more. Eventually, out of desperation, Mcgregor pulled what appeared to be a somewhat decent takedown, and moved to side control but then his arm was caught in what appeared to be a darse choke for a moment, but then Diaz mounted him, did some ground and pound and then sinked in a rear naked choke...and boy did connor tap so fast!
I still have much respect for Connor and what he has done for the sport. It was a great night for fights, and a rematch would be sick.
While I could talk about the Holm and Tate fight, they basically showcased that good jiu jitsu can shut down any striker. As the Gracies did in the past.
Have a Great Day!
Martial Arts Tutor
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Saturday, March 5, 2016
The Top 3 Ways To Teach Children Confidence In Martial Arts
If some of you already don't know, I'm currently a Martial arts Instructor that primarily teaches children ranging from 4 -14. I used to teach adults/teens as well but if you've seen my videos (guy with beard) you probably know my resentment towards my previous job and the things that were going on.
Onward.
Here are the top 3 ways to teach children confidence WITHOUT sacrificing quality in your school. This is crucially important and I know there are instructors out there who actually want to make kids confident without having them test every 2 months.
#1 Stripe promotions DURING class
I've found this to be the most beneficial way to promote students and make them wait to test. They each get a stripe when they do something exceptionally well, like performing pushups with perfect form, or any other goal you want them to be at a particular level.
#2 Make them lead
This is cruicial in martial arts. Let them know that its okay to be confident in front of the class, and you could have one of them call out a number for everyone to do punches kicks ect. you name it. You just gotta make sure you use them as an example for others. Even if its just demonstrating a kick, it makes the kid feel alot better about themselves.
#3 Don't shun questions and comments.
I absolutely hate it when an instructor tells a student to not ask a question. Sure, there are sometimes questions that shouldn't be addressed and sometimes a student just wants to be silly. However, I have seen many times a student want to ask a legitimate question and get shunned for asking it. Also, I don't have my students call me sir.... Say What??? Yes its true. This is because for me personally I had such a weird relationship with my previous instructor just because I felt like I couldn't speak my mind despite knowing him for 15 years, and I think alot of it had to do with the forced respect aspect. I even tell my students, (mostly older ones) you have many options to call me by , "Sir, Master (Last name), coach, Taylor, Mr. (last name) ". Most of the time, the kids pick Master (last name). And its not forced or anything they chose to call me that because they wanted to. And some kids call me coach, which I think is totally fine too.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Friday, March 4, 2016
The Best Way To Get High Kicks In MMA TKD MUAY THAI
As a Taekwondo practioner for over 15 years, my ability to kick the head level has been greatly stressed due to the demand for it in TKD sparring and board breaking.
Transitioning over to mma and kickboxing, I have found that kicking head high isn't such a big deal; its in fact pretty easy. However, I'm not SUPER flexibile, nor did I stretch every single day when I was training in Taekwondo (I was actually considered one of the stiffest people there at the time) Looking back, I really did wish I stretched more, but it doesn't matter anyway because I'm working on my flexibility as of now...typing this blogger post.
So what's the secret? No, its not rubbing some lotion or ointment. It's not being brutally stretched and forced into a position. Its just from....kicking.
The more you kick, the more flexible you will get at kicking high, its that simple. Yes, doing stretches will help and probably speed up the process, but the technique for kicking high relies on alot of what I call "reactive" flexibility. I can't do the front splits or anything, but when I'm VERY warm and I throw an axe kick, my leg does go above my head and it may appear I'm doing the splits in the air. This is because I simply just started low and worked my way up higher and higher. However, keep in mind you don't need to be able to kick someone seven or eight feet tall...so while it may look pretty and flashy, just don't sweat it. Besides, if you have a ground game, you could just take them down and punch them in the face. Problem solved.
Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Thursday, March 3, 2016
Why Taekwondo Needs To Go Away In the Olympics 2016
zzzzz.....oh sorry, didn't see you
there. I was just watching some Taekwondo olympic sparring on my
television. I guess I must have snoozed through it. Who won again? I
don't know...and neither do I really care.
As a 4th Degree Blackbelt in
Taekwondo, with 15 + years experience, I gotta say, Taekwondo
sparring is BORING to watch. This is coming from someone who spent
most of his life doing Taekwondo. Yes, I know the occasional head
kick knockouts are a joy to watch (although TKD praticioners can't
seem to keep their hands up to save their lives) I find much more of
a thrill watching a k-1 match or dare I say it....mma.
Imagine. Every country in the world
stepping into a cage to fight in mixed martial arts competition. Now
that....that would be a dream. Still, I would be pretty satisifed
with muay thai or kickboxing in the olympics. Alot more stuff happens
faster. And if you feel weird about muay thai beacause its not “asian
enough” meaning you don't think it has the “spirit” of
traditional martial arts, I have 2 things to say to you.
Remember that time the cuban (I think
he was) guy in an Olympic Taekwondo match head kicked the referee?
Doesn't seem very honourable. Hmm...never seen that in muay thai.
Secondly, you should really watch a
muay thai fight in its entirety. There is much culture to be
appreciate in it, like the dance in the beginning the deep
meditation, the music, its a very culturally rooted sport martial
art.
While I would love to see mma reach
global popularity in the olympics, kickboxing needs to replace
Taekwondo. Bring in the hate. :)
Have a nice day,
Martial Arts Tutor
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Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Why are there so many belts in Taekwondo?
Let's face it. Nobody really knows that the true belt ranking system is anymore. You may go to many many schools and see different students with different colored belts and are maybe confused as to what comes next. What's worse is that usually the owner of the school will be like "Yes, ours is the official traditional belt system" when you know the guy down the street says the same exact thing.
Who's to trust anymore?
Some parents have come up to me at my work, (I work at a Taekwondo school) and while I have no control over the belt system, asked me if the belt system at my work was legitimate. I simply smiled and said that everyone makes up their own stuff nowadays so I honestly don't know lol. Parent's appreciated my honest answer and it also gave them an opportunity to learn more about bullshido schools.
In my opinion, (now I may be baised, but who isn't?) the real belt system would go something like this: White, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, black. I see alot of schools have "in between belts" like white-yellow, red-black, blue-green, ect, and all I can think of is one reason why: they want you to test MORE often to they can take MORE money.
It's that simple.
Now, I understand that making a child test will give him confidence, and of course you can't allow a child to be blackbelt right? ahemm....well, at least good instructors wouldn't let that happen. But giving a child a false sense of confidence in his rank won't do him good in the real world. This is why I use a stripe system, and I highly recommend every instructor does this. You give them a stripe at no cost whatsover sometimes during class if they meet a certain requirement or do exceptionally well at something. Then you let them know that if they get three stripes (or however many you want) they get to test for their next belt. I have some kids who have waited at least 5 months who are white belts before they test for yellow. This is great because that means that they are more willing to work hard to get there, and the belt feels like a really great goal achieved.
Have a nice day,
Martial Arts Tutor
Who's to trust anymore?
Some parents have come up to me at my work, (I work at a Taekwondo school) and while I have no control over the belt system, asked me if the belt system at my work was legitimate. I simply smiled and said that everyone makes up their own stuff nowadays so I honestly don't know lol. Parent's appreciated my honest answer and it also gave them an opportunity to learn more about bullshido schools.
In my opinion, (now I may be baised, but who isn't?) the real belt system would go something like this: White, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, black. I see alot of schools have "in between belts" like white-yellow, red-black, blue-green, ect, and all I can think of is one reason why: they want you to test MORE often to they can take MORE money.
It's that simple.
Now, I understand that making a child test will give him confidence, and of course you can't allow a child to be blackbelt right? ahemm....well, at least good instructors wouldn't let that happen. But giving a child a false sense of confidence in his rank won't do him good in the real world. This is why I use a stripe system, and I highly recommend every instructor does this. You give them a stripe at no cost whatsover sometimes during class if they meet a certain requirement or do exceptionally well at something. Then you let them know that if they get three stripes (or however many you want) they get to test for their next belt. I have some kids who have waited at least 5 months who are white belts before they test for yellow. This is great because that means that they are more willing to work hard to get there, and the belt feels like a really great goal achieved.
Have a nice day,
Martial Arts Tutor
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Top 5 Signs of a Mcdojo
Here are, in my opinion the top 5 signs you've been enrolled in a Mcdojo. For those of you unaware, a mcdojo is basically a martial art school that has been watered down to the point where the quality of martial art (similar to a mcdonalds) has become more about making money rather than legitimate fighting techniques,
#1 No sparring whatsover.
This is a very clear sign; no contact sparring counts as well. You gain no benefit from punching your opponent 2 inches away from his face. If you want to learn how to fight, you need to spar ALOT. A typical mcdojo wants to avoid such things because either the instructor can't fight himself or he doesn't really know how to teach it.
#2 Kata...Kata...Kata
If all your school does is Kata/Poomse/Forms, then you really need to get out. I totally get it if you want to do it for the sake of meditation and relaxation purposes, but getting a black belt after learning and memorizing 9 forms does not make you a blackbelt, sorry.
#3 Children black-belts
This is a HUGE red flag. No children is capable, or competent enough (trust me, I've seen some great child-blackbelts, but they could not fight at a blackbelt level) to be considered what I call an "adult" in the martial arts. A blackbelt today has been watered down to how much money you have rather than skill required. IF a child can get a blackbelt and the standards of that are the same for an adult, then the standards must be set pretty low.
#4 No addressing self defense
Why the heck are you in martial arts then? This is an absolute must for a Martial art school. Consider it dance if there is no self defense.
#5 Bullshit self defense
If your self defense system consists of this pattern: "Here do a straight forward punch while I finish you off with 100 moves" then it is utter bullshido. (bullshit) The only way to know if your self defense techinques work is with live resistance and realistic attacks. Not someone blindly throwing a straight forward lunging fronstance punch at you. Come on now.
Hope you have a great day, and avoid the Mcdojos!
Martial Arts Tutor
#1 No sparring whatsover.
This is a very clear sign; no contact sparring counts as well. You gain no benefit from punching your opponent 2 inches away from his face. If you want to learn how to fight, you need to spar ALOT. A typical mcdojo wants to avoid such things because either the instructor can't fight himself or he doesn't really know how to teach it.
#2 Kata...Kata...Kata
If all your school does is Kata/Poomse/Forms, then you really need to get out. I totally get it if you want to do it for the sake of meditation and relaxation purposes, but getting a black belt after learning and memorizing 9 forms does not make you a blackbelt, sorry.
#3 Children black-belts
This is a HUGE red flag. No children is capable, or competent enough (trust me, I've seen some great child-blackbelts, but they could not fight at a blackbelt level) to be considered what I call an "adult" in the martial arts. A blackbelt today has been watered down to how much money you have rather than skill required. IF a child can get a blackbelt and the standards of that are the same for an adult, then the standards must be set pretty low.
#4 No addressing self defense
Why the heck are you in martial arts then? This is an absolute must for a Martial art school. Consider it dance if there is no self defense.
#5 Bullshit self defense
If your self defense system consists of this pattern: "Here do a straight forward punch while I finish you off with 100 moves" then it is utter bullshido. (bullshit) The only way to know if your self defense techinques work is with live resistance and realistic attacks. Not someone blindly throwing a straight forward lunging fronstance punch at you. Come on now.
Hope you have a great day, and avoid the Mcdojos!
Martial Arts Tutor
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