Archive for year: 2010

In China the movie's called the Kung Fu Kid because the story is set in China and the martial arts are Kung Fu (there is a bit of cultural controversy over that). Moving on – twenty two of us in total (students and family) went and saw the new Karate Kid movie together this morning.  Nobody had any complaints; it was quite an enjoyable movie and it was also a great day being together with students and families for that short time.  The movie is basically a remake of the original but at least the Karate Kid's master was played by Jackie Chan who is a real martial artist.  The Karate Kid, played by Jaden Smith who, unlike the original KK who didn't really know martial arts, actually is a martial artist.  Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son) and Jackie Chan make it real action packed. 

It was very entertaining and whilst it is all Hollywood the philosophy and reasons for training in the martial arts are all on the screen.  I particularly love the master-student relationship; maybe my age is catching up with me! I really like Jackie Chan in this movie and I realised it was because he played the part of a serious character which he has never done before.  I don't believe any of the critiques have picked up on this. 

This movie is especially great for the very young ones who may have not seen the original but although the story is predictable there are little twists and surprises.  Most important of all, what I got out of it, is seeing what my students and their families got out of it.
GA

I just dropped my mate and trainer, Richard Norton, off at the International Airport earlier this evening.  He's off to NZ for a few seminars and, going by the comments on Facebook, his hosts are a little apprehensive (on the humorous side) because Richard's reputation in the martial arts precedes him.  Then he will back in Sydney for another week to complete his mission at Fox Studios.  The evenings will be free.

On Monday we will go and meet the famous UFC fighter, Mario Sperry, at Rob Naumoski's gym for a MMA seminar.  Tuesday, at my school for Kickboxing and BJJ.  Wednesday, at Richard Awad's full time centre and Thursday at Jordan Micakovski's full time school.

Before flying out, there was enough time for a cup of coffee.  I expressed my opinion that, as an Instructor, I also just need that time alone to experiment with, my selected senior students, the new things I'm learning.  It is the time I get to analyse the techniques so I have a better appreciation of them.  I thought about this over a cup of coffee and I guess if it didn't sound good, I have no doubt, Richard would've told me otherwise.  I can really go on about this but one cup of coffee is not enough!
GA    

Which is easier to remember?  A list of words written in random order, 'morning, just, to, it, find, car, off, the, John, drove, to, was, day, is, in, car, easier, find, work, got, his' or the same words in a sentence, 'John got up in the morning and drove his car to work just to find out it was his day off'?  It's obvious the sentence is going to be much easier.  So why is that easier?  Without meaning, to recall the words listed randomly, one would need to have a photographic memory. 

Particularly in BJJ where the moves are so many and varied, it's makes much sense when you put them into some array so people can better understand and recall them.  This is because the links, between techniques, make it easy to remember which is particularly important in BJJ because of the huge number of techniques.  Remember the blog about the 'flow'? 

As a martial artist and Instructor, I can see the value in this for both students and myself.   The world is becoming much more complex with more things to remember so we need a system which can simplify situations.  It looks like the martial arts are doing that already.
GA

Here's an interesting game for the young ones who need a break from the usual martial arts routine.  The problem with kids is their minds wondering off during class; this game should address any boredom and get their minds back on track.  The game goes like this; you nominate one part of the room, ‘shore’, the other side, ‘island’ and somewhere in the middle, ‘ship’.  Basically, the idea is for the kids to run to the nominated side of the room by the Instructor calling out either ship, shore or island, and do it in such a way to trick them.  Whoever takes a wrong turn, or is slow off the mark, gets taken out of the game.  You start off slowly to get used to it and there are no early disappointments.  As the game goes on and the students start to really wise up, the Instructor has to try all sort of things to outwit them so only one person is remaining who is then declared the winner.  There are lots of ways to make the game become difficult which is only limited by the Instructor's imagination.

Now the really interesting part for grown-ups about this game is how easy it is to get a response from the kids by just calling out one word.  They learn to respond to each word and do what is required from them to do.  This is not new; the police have been using key commands such as ‘drop, tap and rack’ to clear out any stoppages from their firearm, Karate Instructors count out aloud to make things happen, Kickboxing Coaches use key words such as ‘jab’, ‘right cross’, ‘left hook’ for their students. Master Grappler John Will uses this method with the military and BJJ seminars. 

This process is quite effective and simplifies the training without having to repeat long winded or complicated instructions.  After being trained, dogs and other animals also respond similarly to those one word commands.  If it works for animals then think of the possibilities with humans!
GA

If anybody out there has an injury free week please contact us so we can throw a party!  It is a fact of life that nobody can escape injury, because at some stage or another, we beings will fall over, get our fingers caught in the car door or even break a foot etc.  Sportspersons can be prone to injuries because of the activity they do but the trick is to minimise the risk.  Ironically, most students receive injuries outside of martial arts. 

Sometimes, we perceive injuries to be worse than what they really are and we unnecessarily allow them to get in the way of what we need to do or want to do.  The golden rule is 'don't do anything which may aggrevate the injury' but that does not mean cease doing everything.

Temporary injuries may bring your life to a halt and sometimes those injuries will change the way you do things because of limitations to what you can do.  In the martial arts, injuries (temporary or permanent) have been a blessing in disguise for some people forcing them to seek other avenues and discover hidden talents.  Those who do not know Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace (former World Champion Kickboxer), he became a legend with his incredibly effective and fast kick (approximately 100kph).  It was because of a right knee injury which forced him to kick with his left leg only.  Bill could kick the front, right and left side of anybody’s head without putting his leg down and there was nothing anybody could do about it.  Many talents have been stumbled across like this but I’m sure this is not just limited to the martial arts.  I had a talk with Bill recently at the Supershow in Sydney and I asked him if he still ate hamburgers (he's the real hamburgler).  He replied with an absolute yes and he still loves training which showed at the seminar, however, he does not like beetroot on his burgers; and I told him that we do not like pickles on our burgers. 

Not everybody can do what others can do.  Some are super strong, some are super flexible etc so you do what you are capable of doing.  This should be no different to any limitations based on physical abilities or injuries ie you do what you are capable of doing.  Discoveries may only a matter of changing course; sometimes injuries or limitations will prompt you to change course.
GA