For those of you who have seen me kick you know I have learned to generate a lot of power in a fairly short distance and the one question I get asked all of the time is “how?”
If you have done a fair amount of kicking this should make some sense to you; if not, maybe not so much.
Power is generated at four different points during a kick. As the power moves up the kinetic chain to your foot, it builds through each step.
The first phase is generated by straightening the stability leg. This is can be completed because your legs should be slightly bent all of the time while fighting. You can utilize the power and strength of your legs if you simply straighten your stability leg when you launch the kick.
The second place to produce power is by pivoting the hips in the direction you are trying to generate power. So if you are doing a right leg round house kick, you pivot your hips to the left (you’re generating power from right to left). This is easily accomplished by turning your right heel toward your target as you execute the kick.
The third place is to tilt your hip toward your target. If I am completing a right leg roundhouse kick, I should basically be facing to the left. I tilt the right side of my hips toward by opponent as the leg is extending. (This is the hardest one to picture unless you have seen it properly executed).
The last place to build power is by using your quad muscles and completing a leg extension to extend your leg toward your opponent for the final phase of the strike.
Keep in mind each part or phase only takes about a millisecond, as the kick itself only takes a fraction of a second to execute.
I know some of this can be hard to comprehend if you are not familiar with any of the reference points…so go out and find a good instructor and ask!!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Work in Workouts
It has come to my attention lately that some folks just don’t want to put in the effort required for a great workout. They just want to go through the motions; spend some time at the gym, and say they worked out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
A workout consists of two parts; physical and mental. I am not going to delve into the physical side, but I want to write a few lines about the mental aspect.
Folks, your head has got to be in the game. It takes focus and concentration during each step of an exercise to complete it properly. If you’re thinking about work, or the fight you had with your spouse, or your kid getting a C in Algebra, than you can not possibly be putting in the mental power it takes to complete a great workout.
Exercise is a process. Each phase of each individual exercise needs to be performed correctly to avoid injury and ensure maximum results. A good trainer will help with this but during a group class or while you are doing this on your own the trainer will not be around so you need to police yourself. At each phase, stop and ask yourself if you are in the right position, is your speed good, are you stabilized, are you using the appropriate weight. The bottom line is that you MUST pay attention to what you are doing.
A workout consists of two parts; physical and mental. I am not going to delve into the physical side, but I want to write a few lines about the mental aspect.
Folks, your head has got to be in the game. It takes focus and concentration during each step of an exercise to complete it properly. If you’re thinking about work, or the fight you had with your spouse, or your kid getting a C in Algebra, than you can not possibly be putting in the mental power it takes to complete a great workout.
Exercise is a process. Each phase of each individual exercise needs to be performed correctly to avoid injury and ensure maximum results. A good trainer will help with this but during a group class or while you are doing this on your own the trainer will not be around so you need to police yourself. At each phase, stop and ask yourself if you are in the right position, is your speed good, are you stabilized, are you using the appropriate weight. The bottom line is that you MUST pay attention to what you are doing.
What is an exercise progression?
The difference between a good trainer and a great trainer is knowledge of exercise progression and where with in that progression is the client’s level. Every exercise can be progressed or regressed within the stages of a complete fitness program.
Let’s look at a push up. We will start with building core and stabilizers and work our way to building power. I am also assuming that any imbalances have been addressed with Corrective Exercise
Stability - Hold a high plank. This will build stability in the shoulders, spine, and hip complex
Strength Endurance - Add slight movements such as lift a leg or bring a knee to chest. Complete a lot of repetitions
Strength (Hypertrophy) - Complete a push up
Power - Push up and lift your hands off the ground
After this progression is completed, step it up a notch by:
Stability - push up with feet on stability ball
Strength Endurance – lots of regular push ups
Strength – push ups with a band around back or shoulders to add resistance
Power – Push up by moving hands from floor to medicine ball or rolling the medicine ball from on the floor from one hand to the other as you are completing the push up
An exercise progression can and should be done with all muscle groups
Let’s look at a push up. We will start with building core and stabilizers and work our way to building power. I am also assuming that any imbalances have been addressed with Corrective Exercise
Stability - Hold a high plank. This will build stability in the shoulders, spine, and hip complex
Strength Endurance - Add slight movements such as lift a leg or bring a knee to chest. Complete a lot of repetitions
Strength (Hypertrophy) - Complete a push up
Power - Push up and lift your hands off the ground
After this progression is completed, step it up a notch by:
Stability - push up with feet on stability ball
Strength Endurance – lots of regular push ups
Strength – push ups with a band around back or shoulders to add resistance
Power – Push up by moving hands from floor to medicine ball or rolling the medicine ball from on the floor from one hand to the other as you are completing the push up
An exercise progression can and should be done with all muscle groups
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The importance of a movement assessment:
The body is a chain; each link effecting the others. When one of those links is dysfunctional, the entire kinetic chain becomes weak. Muscle balance is essential to transfer force, accelerate, decelerate, and stabilize. Muscular imbalances can occur from trauma, repetitive movement, stress, sedentary lifestyle, disease…you get the idea. The result will be a functional movement impairment and eventually injury.
Take control of your own well being. First (of course) I recommend finding a qualified trainer experienced in doing movement assessments (call me if you need a referral). If this can’t be done, do a spot check on your self.
The easiest way is to do an over head squat assessment in a mirror.
Stand with your feet hip width apart, feet facing forward. Raise your arms above your head and straighten them at about a 45-60 degree angle to the sides. Slowly complete a number of squats without changing your position.
What you are looking for is:
Do your feet turn in or out, or do they stay forward?
Do your heels come up off the ground?
Do you loose your balance?
Do your knees move in or out, or do they stay forward.
Does you low back round or arch?
Do you have to lean forward to stay balanced?
Do your arms fall forward?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have an imbalance that will sooner or later cause an injury to muscle tissue or a joint.
Take control of your own well being. First (of course) I recommend finding a qualified trainer experienced in doing movement assessments (call me if you need a referral). If this can’t be done, do a spot check on your self.
The easiest way is to do an over head squat assessment in a mirror.
Stand with your feet hip width apart, feet facing forward. Raise your arms above your head and straighten them at about a 45-60 degree angle to the sides. Slowly complete a number of squats without changing your position.
What you are looking for is:
Do your feet turn in or out, or do they stay forward?
Do your heels come up off the ground?
Do you loose your balance?
Do your knees move in or out, or do they stay forward.
Does you low back round or arch?
Do you have to lean forward to stay balanced?
Do your arms fall forward?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have an imbalance that will sooner or later cause an injury to muscle tissue or a joint.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
What is trapping and how is it applied?
If there was a way to immobilize your opponents offensive weapons so you could attack with impunity, would you want o learn it? That’s what trapping allows you to do. The trapping range of JKD is a critical element that is left out of most training programs. In a world where schools are teaching Brazilian Jujitsu and Muay Thai Kick Boxing, the art of trapping has faded away. However, trapping is not just a bunch of techniques; it is a range of combat that is largely ignored. We use elements and training methods from a number of different systems including Thai Boxing, Kali, and Wing Chung to develop our attributes in trapping range.
Trapping is a range of fighting. It is the same as clinch range, but without necessarily going into a clinch. Just like boxing has a jab and a cross, and tae kwon do has a roundhouse kick, trapping has a number of techniques such as pak soa and jut soa, as well as head-butts, knees, and elbows. The thought behind trapping is not to grab your opponent as in a grappling art, but to jamb their hands or legs so they can not execute a punch or a kick. The idea is to momentarily disable one or more of your opponent’s weapons so you can effectively execute a kick, punch, knee, or an elbow without the threat of your opponent’s weapons.
Keep in mind that just like a good kicker can execute a kick from kicking, punching, or trapping range, and a good boxer can punch in punching range or clinch range, many trapping techniques can be executed in a the various ranges, not just trapping range.
Trapping is a range of fighting. It is the same as clinch range, but without necessarily going into a clinch. Just like boxing has a jab and a cross, and tae kwon do has a roundhouse kick, trapping has a number of techniques such as pak soa and jut soa, as well as head-butts, knees, and elbows. The thought behind trapping is not to grab your opponent as in a grappling art, but to jamb their hands or legs so they can not execute a punch or a kick. The idea is to momentarily disable one or more of your opponent’s weapons so you can effectively execute a kick, punch, knee, or an elbow without the threat of your opponent’s weapons.
Keep in mind that just like a good kicker can execute a kick from kicking, punching, or trapping range, and a good boxer can punch in punching range or clinch range, many trapping techniques can be executed in a the various ranges, not just trapping range.
The use of deadly force
To the unprepared, the shock of sudden and unprovoked violence has a tendency to paralyze the victim with fear or cause doubt in their mind that violence is being committed against them. They are often unable to react or wish it was not happening. Understand that you fight to stop, not to kill. However, you may end up killing or maiming. If you have not made peace, in advance, with that decision, you may not be able to make that decision when you need to. Should you ever find yourself in a lethal confrontation; the decision to use deadly force is going to be yours and yours alone.
This why you must decide ahead of time how much force you are willing to use to defend yourself, your loved ones, or another innocent.
You are universally justified in the use of deadly force when there is a reasonable fear of immediate or otherwise unavoidable danger of death or serious bodily injury to the innocent. All of these factors must be present to justify the use of deadly force. If one of them is missing, you will most certainly face civil and maybe even criminal charges.
You or the person you are defending must be free from fault. In other words, you can not start a fight then claim self defense.
You know when you are in immediate and unavoidable danger when your assailant has the ability to cause harm, has the opportunity to inflict harm, and is intent, as shown by actions or words, on killing, crippling, or permanently disfiguring you.
Lethal force is justified when there is a disparity of force such as:
A large man against a small man
Able bodied against disabled
Man against woman
Two or more on one
Someone trained in martial arts against an untrained person
When do you retreat?
In order to justify the use of deadly force, you must show that there was not an alternative. In some jurisdictions, retreat is required. If you do not retreat until you could retreat no further, then you are not justified in the use of deadly force. In the universally accepted use of deadly force, retreat is always a good idea and should be done if it is a viable alternative and does not place you or those around you in greater danger. Retreat will establish that you did everything possible to avoid the confrontation.
Always keep in mind: if it’s not worth dying for it is not worth fighting for. If you must think about fighting, you probably should not
Paraphrased from an article by Frontsite Firearms Training
This why you must decide ahead of time how much force you are willing to use to defend yourself, your loved ones, or another innocent.
You are universally justified in the use of deadly force when there is a reasonable fear of immediate or otherwise unavoidable danger of death or serious bodily injury to the innocent. All of these factors must be present to justify the use of deadly force. If one of them is missing, you will most certainly face civil and maybe even criminal charges.
You or the person you are defending must be free from fault. In other words, you can not start a fight then claim self defense.
You know when you are in immediate and unavoidable danger when your assailant has the ability to cause harm, has the opportunity to inflict harm, and is intent, as shown by actions or words, on killing, crippling, or permanently disfiguring you.
Lethal force is justified when there is a disparity of force such as:
A large man against a small man
Able bodied against disabled
Man against woman
Two or more on one
Someone trained in martial arts against an untrained person
When do you retreat?
In order to justify the use of deadly force, you must show that there was not an alternative. In some jurisdictions, retreat is required. If you do not retreat until you could retreat no further, then you are not justified in the use of deadly force. In the universally accepted use of deadly force, retreat is always a good idea and should be done if it is a viable alternative and does not place you or those around you in greater danger. Retreat will establish that you did everything possible to avoid the confrontation.
Always keep in mind: if it’s not worth dying for it is not worth fighting for. If you must think about fighting, you probably should not
Paraphrased from an article by Frontsite Firearms Training
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Jeet kune Do by Dan Inosanto
Jeet Kune Do - the literal translation is "way of the intercepting fist" - was conceived by Bruce Lee in 1967. Unlike many other martial arts, there are neither a series of rules nor a classification of techniques which constitute a distinct Jeet Kune Do (JKD) method of fighting. JKD is unbound; JKD is freedom. It possesses everything, yet in itself is possessed by nothing. Those who understand JKD are primarily interested in its powers of liberation when JKD is used as a mirror for self-examination.
In the past, many have tried to define JKD in terms of a distinct style: Bruce Lee's kung-fu; Bruce Lee's karate; Bruce Lee's kickboxing; Bruce Lee's system of street fighting. To label JKD "Bruce Lee's martial art" is to completely mistake Bruce Lee's - and JKD's-meaning. JKD's concepts simply cannot be confined within a single system. To understand this, a martial artist must transcend the duality of "for" and "against," reaching for that point of unity which is beyond mere distinction. The understanding of JKD is the direct intuition of this point of unity. According to Bruce Lee, knowledge in the martial arts ultimately means self-knowledge.
Jeet Kune Do is not a new style of kung-fu or karate. Bruce Lee did not invent a new or composite style, nor did he modify a style to set it apart from any existing method. His concept was to free his followers from clinging to any style, pattern, or mold.
It must be emphasized that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name, a mirror reflecting ourselves. There is a sort of progressive approach to JKD training, but as Lee observed: "To create a method of fighting is like putting a pound of water into wrapping paper and shaping it." Structurally, many people mistake JKD as a composite style of martial art because of its efficiency. At any given time Jeet Kune Do can resemble Thai boxing or wing Chun or wrestling or karate. Its weaponry resembles Filipino Escrima and kali; in long-range application it can resemble Northern Chinese kung-fu or Savate.
According to Lee, the efficiency of any style depends upon circumstances and the fighting range of distance: the soldier employs a hand grenade at 50 yards, but he chooses a dagger for close-quarters combat. A staff, to take another example, is the wrong weapon to take to a fight in a telephone booth; a knife would again be the most appropriate weapon.
Jeet Kune Do is neither opposed or unopposed to the concept of style. We can say that it is outside as well as inside of all particular structures. Because JKD makes no claim to existing as a style, some individuals conclude that it is neutral or indifferent to the question. Again, this is not the case, for JKD is at once "this" and "not this."
A good JKD practitioner rests his actions on direct intuition. According to Lee, a style should never be like the Bible in which the principles and laws can never be violated. There will always be differences between individuals in regard to the quality of training, physical make-up, level of understanding, environmental conditioning, and likes and dislikes. According to Bruce, truth is a "pathless road"; thus JKD is not an organization or an institution of which one can be a member. "Either you understand or you don't - and that is that," he said.
When Bruce taught a Chinese system of kung-fu (it was shortly after his arrival in the United States), he did operate an institute of learning; but after that early period he abandoned his belief in any particular system or style, Chinese or otherwise. Lee did say that to reach the masses one should probably form some type of organization; for his own part, he dismissed the notion as unnecessary to his own teaching. Still, to reach the ever growing numbers of students, some sort of preconceived sets had to be established. And as a result of such a move by martial arts organizations, many of their members would be conditioned to a prescribed system; many of their members would end up as prisoners of systematic drilling.
This is why Lee believed in teaching only a few students at any time. Such a method of instruction required the teacher to maintain an alert observation of each student in order to establish the necessary student-teacher relationship. As Lee so often observed, "A good instructor functions as a pointer of the truth, exposing the student's vulnerability, forcing him to explore himself both internally and externally, and finally integrating himself with his being."
Martial arts - like life itself - is in flux, in constant arrhythmic movements, in constant change. Flowing with this change is very important. And finally, any JKD man who says that JKD is exclusively JKD is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his own self-enclosing resistance, still anchored to reactionary patterns, still trapped within limitation. Such a person has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside of all molds or patterns. Awareness is never exclusive. To quote Bruce: "Jeet Kune Do is just a name, a boat used to get one across the river. Once across it is discarded and not to be carried on one's back."
In 1981, the JKD concept was taught in only three places: the Filipino Kali Academy in Torrance, California; in Charlotte, North Carolina (where Larry Hartsell taught a few select students); and in Seattle, Washington (under the direction of Taki Kimura). The bulk of the JKD concept is taught in Torrance, where the school is under the direction of myself and Richard Bustillo. It is organized in accordance with the premise that a JKD man must undergo different experiences. For example, in Phase 1 and Phase 2 classes at the Filipino Kali Academy, students are taught Western boxing and Bruce Lee's method of kick boxing - Jun Fan.
I deeply feel that students should be taught experiences as opposed to techniques, In other words, a karate practitioner who has never boxed before needs to experience sparring with a boxer. What he learns from that experience is up to him. According to Bruce, a teacher is not a giver of truth; he is merely a guide to the truth each student must find.
The total picture Lee wanted to present to his pupils was that above everything else, the pupils must find their own way to truth. He never hesitated to say, "Your truth is not my truth; my truth is not yours."
Bruce did not have a blueprint, but rather a series of guidelines to lead one to proficiency. In using training equipment, there was a systematic approach in which one could develop speed, distance, power, timing, coordination, endurance and footwork.
But Jeet Kune Do was not an end in itself for Bruce - nor was it a mere by-product of his martial studies; it was a means to self discovery. JKD was a prescription for personal growth; it was an investigation of freedom - freedom not only to act naturally and effectively in combat, but in life. In life, we absorb what is useful and reject what is useless, and add to experience what is specifically our own. Bruce Lee always wanted his students to experience judo, jujutsu, aikido, Western boxing; he wanted his students to explore Chinese systems of sensitivity like Wing Chun, to explore the elements of kali, Escrima, Arnis; to explore the elements of Pentjak Silat, Thai boxing, Savate. He wanted his students to come to an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
No art is superior or inferior to any other. That is the object lesson of Jeet Kune Do, to be unbound, to be free: in combat to use no style as style, to use no way as the way, to have no limitation as the only limitation. Neither be for or against a particular style. In other words, Jeet Kune Do "just is.'
Or to use the words of a Zen maxim to describe Jeet Kune Do, "In the landscape of spring there is neither better nor worse. The flowering branches grow, some short, some long.
In the past, many have tried to define JKD in terms of a distinct style: Bruce Lee's kung-fu; Bruce Lee's karate; Bruce Lee's kickboxing; Bruce Lee's system of street fighting. To label JKD "Bruce Lee's martial art" is to completely mistake Bruce Lee's - and JKD's-meaning. JKD's concepts simply cannot be confined within a single system. To understand this, a martial artist must transcend the duality of "for" and "against," reaching for that point of unity which is beyond mere distinction. The understanding of JKD is the direct intuition of this point of unity. According to Bruce Lee, knowledge in the martial arts ultimately means self-knowledge.
Jeet Kune Do is not a new style of kung-fu or karate. Bruce Lee did not invent a new or composite style, nor did he modify a style to set it apart from any existing method. His concept was to free his followers from clinging to any style, pattern, or mold.
It must be emphasized that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name, a mirror reflecting ourselves. There is a sort of progressive approach to JKD training, but as Lee observed: "To create a method of fighting is like putting a pound of water into wrapping paper and shaping it." Structurally, many people mistake JKD as a composite style of martial art because of its efficiency. At any given time Jeet Kune Do can resemble Thai boxing or wing Chun or wrestling or karate. Its weaponry resembles Filipino Escrima and kali; in long-range application it can resemble Northern Chinese kung-fu or Savate.
According to Lee, the efficiency of any style depends upon circumstances and the fighting range of distance: the soldier employs a hand grenade at 50 yards, but he chooses a dagger for close-quarters combat. A staff, to take another example, is the wrong weapon to take to a fight in a telephone booth; a knife would again be the most appropriate weapon.
Jeet Kune Do is neither opposed or unopposed to the concept of style. We can say that it is outside as well as inside of all particular structures. Because JKD makes no claim to existing as a style, some individuals conclude that it is neutral or indifferent to the question. Again, this is not the case, for JKD is at once "this" and "not this."
A good JKD practitioner rests his actions on direct intuition. According to Lee, a style should never be like the Bible in which the principles and laws can never be violated. There will always be differences between individuals in regard to the quality of training, physical make-up, level of understanding, environmental conditioning, and likes and dislikes. According to Bruce, truth is a "pathless road"; thus JKD is not an organization or an institution of which one can be a member. "Either you understand or you don't - and that is that," he said.
When Bruce taught a Chinese system of kung-fu (it was shortly after his arrival in the United States), he did operate an institute of learning; but after that early period he abandoned his belief in any particular system or style, Chinese or otherwise. Lee did say that to reach the masses one should probably form some type of organization; for his own part, he dismissed the notion as unnecessary to his own teaching. Still, to reach the ever growing numbers of students, some sort of preconceived sets had to be established. And as a result of such a move by martial arts organizations, many of their members would be conditioned to a prescribed system; many of their members would end up as prisoners of systematic drilling.
This is why Lee believed in teaching only a few students at any time. Such a method of instruction required the teacher to maintain an alert observation of each student in order to establish the necessary student-teacher relationship. As Lee so often observed, "A good instructor functions as a pointer of the truth, exposing the student's vulnerability, forcing him to explore himself both internally and externally, and finally integrating himself with his being."
Martial arts - like life itself - is in flux, in constant arrhythmic movements, in constant change. Flowing with this change is very important. And finally, any JKD man who says that JKD is exclusively JKD is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his own self-enclosing resistance, still anchored to reactionary patterns, still trapped within limitation. Such a person has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside of all molds or patterns. Awareness is never exclusive. To quote Bruce: "Jeet Kune Do is just a name, a boat used to get one across the river. Once across it is discarded and not to be carried on one's back."
In 1981, the JKD concept was taught in only three places: the Filipino Kali Academy in Torrance, California; in Charlotte, North Carolina (where Larry Hartsell taught a few select students); and in Seattle, Washington (under the direction of Taki Kimura). The bulk of the JKD concept is taught in Torrance, where the school is under the direction of myself and Richard Bustillo. It is organized in accordance with the premise that a JKD man must undergo different experiences. For example, in Phase 1 and Phase 2 classes at the Filipino Kali Academy, students are taught Western boxing and Bruce Lee's method of kick boxing - Jun Fan.
I deeply feel that students should be taught experiences as opposed to techniques, In other words, a karate practitioner who has never boxed before needs to experience sparring with a boxer. What he learns from that experience is up to him. According to Bruce, a teacher is not a giver of truth; he is merely a guide to the truth each student must find.
The total picture Lee wanted to present to his pupils was that above everything else, the pupils must find their own way to truth. He never hesitated to say, "Your truth is not my truth; my truth is not yours."
Bruce did not have a blueprint, but rather a series of guidelines to lead one to proficiency. In using training equipment, there was a systematic approach in which one could develop speed, distance, power, timing, coordination, endurance and footwork.
But Jeet Kune Do was not an end in itself for Bruce - nor was it a mere by-product of his martial studies; it was a means to self discovery. JKD was a prescription for personal growth; it was an investigation of freedom - freedom not only to act naturally and effectively in combat, but in life. In life, we absorb what is useful and reject what is useless, and add to experience what is specifically our own. Bruce Lee always wanted his students to experience judo, jujutsu, aikido, Western boxing; he wanted his students to explore Chinese systems of sensitivity like Wing Chun, to explore the elements of kali, Escrima, Arnis; to explore the elements of Pentjak Silat, Thai boxing, Savate. He wanted his students to come to an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
No art is superior or inferior to any other. That is the object lesson of Jeet Kune Do, to be unbound, to be free: in combat to use no style as style, to use no way as the way, to have no limitation as the only limitation. Neither be for or against a particular style. In other words, Jeet Kune Do "just is.'
Or to use the words of a Zen maxim to describe Jeet Kune Do, "In the landscape of spring there is neither better nor worse. The flowering branches grow, some short, some long.
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