The global chat rooms are always empty it seems, when is there people in them?

To win a hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill-Sun Tzu

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate-Chuang-Tzu

Life unfolds on a great sheet called time, and once finished it is gone forever-Chinese adage

The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life-Samurai Maxim

I can defeat you physically with or without a reason. But i can only defeat your mind with a reason-JIm Lau

We live in a word full of martial arts. I think its interesting. Now, a problem that comes along every time this is thought about is "Is the an all powerful art?" If thought through, the truth in No. The art is only as good as the one the uses it. Still we find people who want to prove this wrong. Then you come across MMA, but is there an art there? Effective in fighting yes, but a martial art? Even if its mixing martial arts, is it still ans art? Yes and no. For those who are truely mixing yes, there are still learning and training the art(s). But those who just learn basic punching, kicking, and grappling to fight, is it still an art? I've always thought of the art as the lessions learn internaly as well as the fisical lessions. The arts are wide and vast, and there are many views on it, so im just wondering how other people see it. any thoughts?

I have been talking about this style with another member and was wondering if anyone practices or knows this art?

Here is information I found on it at Wikipedia:

Bokator/Boxkator, or more formally, Labokator (to fight lion) (ល្បុក្កតោ) is a Khmer martial art that is possible predecessor of Southeast Asian kickboxing styles. It is easy to believe that Bokator was the close quarter combat system used by the ancient armies of Angkor.

Angkorian Warriors will have been a key factor in enabling a succession of Angkorian Kings to dominate South East Asia for more than 600 years from 800 AD. Popular belief is that Jayavarman VII, the ruler of the Khmer Empire, was a practitioner of Bokator.[citation needed]

Unlike kick boxing, which is a sport fighting art, Bokator was a soldier's art, designed to be used on the battlefield. It uses a diverse array of elbow and knee strikes, shin kicks, submissions and ground fighting.[citation needed] Bokator practitioners are trained to strike with knees, hands, elbows, feet, shins, and head. Even the shoulders, hip, jaw, and fingers can be used to fight an opponent to submission or death.

When fighting, Bokator practitioners still wear the uniforms of ancient Khmer armies. A kroma (scarf) is folded around their waist and blue and red silk cords called sangvar day, are tied around the combatants head and biceps. In the past it is said that the cords were enchanted to increase strength, although now they are just ceremonial.

The kroma (a cotton scarf worn around the waist) shows the fighter's level of expertise. The first grade is white, followed by green, blue, red, brown and then black which has 10 degrees. After completing their initial training, fighters wear a Black Kroma (scarf) for at least another ten years. To attain the Gold Kroma you must be a true master and must have done something great for Bokator. And to become a true master it will definitely take some time as just in the unarmed portion of the art there are between 8000 and 10000 different techniques; only 1000 of which you have to learn to attain the black kroma.

The art contains 341 different styles based on the study of life in nature. For example horse, bird, dragon, eagle, crane, each style contains several techniques. Because of its visually similar style, Bokator (Boxkator) is commonly wrongly described as a variant of modern kick boxing. Bokator has many forms based on styles as well as straight practical fighting techniques. While Pradal Serey is a more simplified freestyle fighting system which uses a few of the basic (white kroma) punching, elbow, kicking and kneeing techniques.

Let me know,

Thanks,

Tony

Climbing over that Mental Peak for Competition - 5 tips that can help you push past your usual limits by Jeremy M. Talbott

Whenever I am asked, "What can I do to better prepare for the next competition?" I naturally answer train, train, train and when you get tired, train some more.  Let's face it that is easier said than done.  Everyone knows you need to train hard to be good, but, no matter how hard you train, there is always a peak which you just can't seem to get past.  A mental exhaustion where you body no longer wants to go on.  So how do you motivate yourself to train harder, to push your body just past that limit you didn't think you could?  That is the key question. 

While trophies and medals may motivate you to get ready for the next competition, this may not always motivate you to push on when your muscles ache and your body is fatigued and you are drenched in sweat.  Sometimes you just need to "trick" your body and mind into going that extra mile.  So here are five mental rules to use whenever you need that extra push.

1)      Music enrages the savage beast.  Most of the time we hear the old saying "Music soothes the savage beast" and while this may be true, the opposite is just as true.  No matter how tired someone is, they always have enough energy to tap their toes or nod their head when their favorite song comes on.  It is almost instinctive.  Sometimes all you need is some really fast paced music to give you your second wind.  You become revived and ready for another session.

2)      Just one more time.   Repetition is key in successfully executing a good form as well as building up muscle memory to execute good sparring techniques.  So when you reach the state of tiredness, simply tell yourself, "I just need to do this one more time."  Once you do it, and then repeat that in your head again.  Before you know it, you have just pushed yourself an extra 30 minutes longer than you thought you could. 

3)      10 times right.  While repetition may be key, it is CORRECT repetition which is crucial.  If you are going to do something over and over, make sure you are doing it right.  A good start is the "10 times right" rule.  This means that you pick out a combination of techniques that you need to use and execute it, at full speed and strength, ten times.  Sounds easy enough right?  Well there is a catch.  If you mess up the combo then you have to start all over again.  This means that if you have executed the combo nine times successfully and then on the tenth time you mess up, then you go back to starting all over again.  Even when exhausted you will find this drill will push you to stay in the game longer than you expected.

 

4)      Whatever you are doing, your opponent is doing it more, and harder.  Sometimes you need your biggest rival to motivate you to stay on the mat.  Since most of the time they don't train at the same place as you do, you have to envision that they are always training harder than yourself.  If you throw a single combo once, your opponent has thrown it twice.  If you ran your best form 10 times, your opponent ran hers fifteen times.  If you swam 20 laps, your opponent swam 21 laps.  With that in mind run that form one more time or do one more round of sparring.  Each time you reach that limit and you are about to quit, always remember your opponent had no problems doing it once more.

5)      Let the movies help.  Before an event, it is always nice to relax the body and mind.  So how can you continue your training even when you need to just unwind?  Simple, let the movies work for you.  Prior to a big event simply grab a nice meal and watch a good inspirational movie such as "Rocky" or "Remember the Titans".  Movies that tend to inspire and send out the message that even the biggest long shot can be a champion.  Such movies not only send out a positive message of overcoming adversities, it also reminds you that you can achieve the success you deserve.  What better way to go into a competition than to have that message fresh in your mind.

 

Everyone has their own physical and mental limits.  Many of these limitations we place on ourselves never really knowing what we may be capable of doing.  These five items are just a few things that can help you push that bar of limitation for yourself a bit higher.  Even if you are able to tack on an extra five minutes of training or execute a form one more time than usual, the mental success you will achieve will reach far beyond the competition floor into your everyday life.

After UFC 104, I was amazed at how deep the UFC stable of brilliant fighters is as many contenders stepped up and proved themselves worthy for title shots, maybe not immediately but in the near future. That night, we saw that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua deserves another shot in a rematch with Machida to settle once and for all who really is the 205 champ. And we also saw the rebirth of the new and improved Joe "Daddy" Stevenson as he demolished a helpless Spencer Fisher with relentless and violent elbow strikes on the ground. Sure BJ Penn bloodied and choked him out with ease but ever since Joe switched training camps, he went 2-0 against top-caliber opponents. And what about Cain Velasquez, the champion and standard bearer of brown pride and Latinos everywhere? His wrestling is arguably the best in the heavyweight division, maybe second only to the champ, Brock Lesnar. But he proved that he can takedown and dominate bigger and stronger fighters when he manhandled and beat up Big Ben Rothwell all throughout the fight.

 

But the fighter who really caught my eye and showed a set of skills that is title-shot-worthy (not saying that the above mentioned warriors did not) is Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, a hard-hitting 170 pounder. He was a little heavier for the fight, weighing in with an excess of 6 pounds but that wouldn't have mattered because he looked like a man possessed when he sought and destroyed Yoshiki Yoshida in just 41 seconds on the very first round. Yoshida is a world class judo black belt but he looked like a kid when he tried to clinch and possibly takedown Johnson. Yoshida ate hard shots after hard shots and was hurt really bad before Johnson delivered the knockout blow right on his jaw that floored him once and for all. Seriously, that dude has scary and legitimate knockout power in both of his hands (probably the hardest hitter in his division) and his takedown defense is not bad, too. If he can land a couple of those power bombs against Georges St. Pierre and if he could improve and further work on his ground game and takedown defense, maybe we'll see a new champ at 170. Maybe but I also think he needs to face Thiago Alves first and use him as a springboard for that title shot.

 

If I am not writing custom term papers and other articles for local sports journals, I will be following Cain Velasquez's ascent to the top. I will also monitor AnthonyJohnson's career closely and see if he is all that he seems to be. He proved that he can punch and strike with the best of them but I think he was never really  been tested against a top-caliber fighter like Jon Fitch and/or Thiago Alves. If he can improve his overall game and not just bank on his striking, he may very well be the next contender for the 170 belt. It will be a wild ride and the champs better man up and bring their A game because the hungry contenders are out for blood. Till then, I'm out, boppers.

 

What have you contributed by Jeremy M. Talbott

 

After a class is finish, it is not unusual for a parent, or student, to come and talk to me about how things are progressing.  I enjoy these talks because it gives me the time to give them positive feed back to what they are doing right as well as give them my views as what I feel they need to work on in terms of physical and mental applications.  I give them tips on what they can work on at home in order to help improve and more times than not, they go home and practice.  Now with every one parent or student like aforementioned, I have at least two that the only time I see them is when they come up and wonder why the student has not promoted yet.  My first, and sometimes only, answer to this is "What have you contributed to your studies outside of class?"

 

I also enjoy this time because the majority of the time they will tell me either nothing or they will start making up excuses to why they can not practice outside the school.  I just had an example like this happen.  We just had a promotion test where one student was promoted to his next rank.  When he received his belt, I had a mother of another student, who started the exact day as the promoted student, come up to me complaining as to why her child did not get to promote.  I told her that the child has not been to any of the review testing and that I have not seen him at class at least a week prior to the testing.  I then of course asked my favorite question; what has he contributed to his studies outside of class?  She explained the reason for the absences, but as expected, she really did not have any reason for him not practicing at home.  I could see she was upset so I asked her if she would be upset with his math teacher if he was not progressing because he did not do his homework which resulted in bad test scores.  She naturally said no.  So I asked her how she can be upset with us for the same reason.

 

Effort in the class is important, but it is the effort that you place outside of class which will be the key factor in progressing.  If you go to your job and just do the required work, you will get by and occasionally you may get a promotion or raise.  However if you make an extra effort to do more than the requirement you find that you are promoted a bit more often along with other praises and raises.  School is the same.  You can learn your assignment in class and do the basic homework and you will be ok.  It is when you do extra problems or study 10 minutes more after you finished your assignments, that you will find a better progression in your learning.  Martial arts are no different.  The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.  No one is asking you to be a workaholic or a study nerd whose life revolves around school, nor are we asking you to dedicate every waking moment of free time to your martial arts.  It just takes a small amount extra effort to go a long way.  Your teachers, bosses, co-workers and instructors can only contribute so much to your growth.  For you to reach that next level, you must be the one to make the extra contributions.  So the next time you are not progressing just ask yourself, what have you contributed? 

 

Backyard Miyagis' of the World Unite

 

            What Martial Artist could truly forget the bond between teacher and student in the classic movie Karate Kid? I have studied Martial Arts since I was 15 years old, I am 43 now... you can do the math, but this is not my point. I find it sickening that Martial Arts today is nothing more than a money making business, what with federation dues, monthly fees and testing fees one has to spend a small fortune just to study the Martial Arts.

            My Son and I, along with an old High school friend of mine and his Son, make a weekly pilgrimage to Master John Santiago's garage. It is there that we learn the true essence of the Martial Arts, without, federation dues, monthly fees or testing fees. There is no hype, there is no flare, there are no patches, and there are no belts... just a bond between student and master and a pure passion to simply study Martial Arts.

            I know there are a handful of Sensei's out there who share that same passion, and to them I say, "Open up your garages, backyards and hearts... not your bank accounts for those who have a passion to just simply learn!"

About 4 years ago, I had two men walk into the school. The first man watches a class and decides that he is “too old” to be starting a martial art. The second man watches the class and decides “Might as well give it try”. Now let me describe the two gentlemen. The first man was in his early 30’s, in decent health and decent shape. The second man was in this mid 50’s, completely blinded in his right eye and missing his thumb and two fingers on his right hand. Folks, this is a true story. When I asked the second man why he wanted to start martial arts, he simply replied “I’ve always wanted to do it, but kept thinking I was too old. I finally got tired of being too old.” After talking with him I reflected on how many times I have used that same excuse to avoid doing something new in the martial arts or any other activity that may be deemed more for the younger generation. Now it is obvious that, more times than not, a 40 year old will not be as flexible as an 18 year old, a 50 year old may not move as quick as a 16 year old, and a 35 year old may not be as physically fit as a 25 year old. However, physical limitations can be overcome or worked around. A good example is July’s issue Taekwondo Times which featured Master Robert Ott, the creator of Kidokwan and a gentleman who is completely blind. Physical limitations were not a factor in his achievement of success, nor should it be in our own achievements. It is our mental limitations that cause the obstacles we just can’t seem to over come. So many times in the “real world” we prohibit ourselves from accomplishing new goals because of three simple words; “I can’t because…” Yet, when we are in the dojang, these words don’t exist. They are not allowed to because our teachers won’t hear of it. You are never too old to try something new in the dojang so why are you too old to try something new outside of the dojang be it a new job, new hobby or a new fashion style? The “Yes I can” attitude shouldn’t stop when you leave the dojang for the evening. In fact, you practice that attitude at the school, but like anything else you need to apply the lesson on the street. The bottom line is that you are never too old, perhaps too lazy, but never too old. To show you that I have been practicing what I preach here, at my current age of 37, I just tried a wushu class for the first time. I was thrown into the adult class where the oldest student, besides me, was only 23 years old. I struggled and pushed and was sore for 3 days and too be honest, I can’t wait to go back again. I was explaining this to a co-worker who is one of those Lazy Boy recliner people who watches his sports and enjoys telling me I’m too old to be some of things I do. He simply chuckled “Well you can’t teach old dog new tricks.” I just simply looked at him and told him “Yeah, well you can’t teach a dead dog anything.”

 

June 20^th and 21^st of 2008 marks the date for the 43^rd Annual AKA Grand Nationals tournament, one of the oldest tournaments still running in the United States today.  Adults and kids from all over North America and Europe will travel to Louisville, Kentucky, the site of the event, to participate in this annual martial arts competition and with it just around the corner I can't help but recall debates about competition in the martial arts.  Now there is always an ongoing debate somewhere on the internet about the pros and cons of having such events.  More than not, the biggest complaint I hear over and over from the con side of the debate is that these types of events actually degrade martial arts or causes the martial arts to become watered down.   I recently had the privilege to sit down with six young athletes who participate in sport martial art tournaments, just to see what drives them to do compete. (See upcoming September issue of Taekwondo Times for the article)

The more I spoke with them about competition, the more it reinforced my belief in how competition is very healthy and a much underrated part of the martial arts.   That is not to say that if your school doesn't do competitions, then your school is no good, far from it.  What I am saying is that there are many good things that can come out of competition in the martial arts.  What better way to practice the building blocks success such as perseverance, self confidence, self discipline and respect than to be put in a situation where you have to utilize those building blocks to help achieve victory? 

 

And remember, victory is not determined on if you win or lose, it is determined on how you yourself have progressed as a person.  When you see that you are able to better yourself in just one area in life, utilizing these building blocks, you begin to apply them in other areas of your life like your job or school or personal relationships.  If you are like me, you are one of the many, many people who hate to do public speaking.  To help overcome the nervousness and fear associated with it, I simply resort to looking at it like a competition.  I practice what I need to present prior to the event so that it becomes second nature to me.  If it is something that will be cause for discussion I think of all the points and counter points that will be brought up.  Then, when the time comes, I just step into the ring and do my best.  After all, if I can jump around and yell in front of strangers wearing those crazy pajamas we call uniforms, then stepping up in front of my peers in a business suit really isn't that hard. 

 

So if you have the opportunity, join in on a local event in your area, if nothing else just for the fun of it. Regardless if you win or lose, competition can always teach you something about yourself as a person, if you are willing to learn.  Sometimes, it is not always what you would like to learn, but, it will always be something that will allow you to grow. 

Here is something that can't be bought.

 Its what been looked for but can't be sought.

 Its something that has to be learned not taught.

 Not what you got beyond making it to that top spot.

 What is really there not what you thought

the reasons I study are much more than the obvious: the feeling of victory leaving the ring with your hand held high, the health benifits, the feeling of power that comes from the rank. No there is much more to me than that. There is that feeling of acomplishment that comes after you ask youself "wow did I really do that?" I love fighting not beacause I like to hurt but beacause I like to perservere, knowing that you have to push through the pain and keep on keeping on to win, I look at my injuries as a testimony to how far I would go to get what I want. I love how that has appliet to my life even getting my current girlfreind I saw her and did all I could to get her just like I would to get that victory. I am proud to look at myself in the mirror wearing my traditional Taekwondo dogi and seeing that same gi covered in sweat after a hard days training. I love to help others learn and love to  spread this way of life which is what it is. I see my arts in everything I do no matter what it is patience pereserverance respect self control and confidence all have come from my arts and have changed my life forever I have gone from a punk to a kid you'd trust with your daughter lol. I have become a role model for my brother and sister and younger students but mst important of all I have evolved as a person. 

I just tried playing that game called "Tevlon" in the Saigo Online Games area...COOL!!!

Has anyone else played it yet?

I like that it's 3D and really easy to play. Just move the arrow keys around and shoot with the space bar.

I am an XBOX fanadict myself but it's cool to play easy games online.

What do you guys think about it?

Hello fellow martial artist and martial arts enthusiest. We are putting together a 'SUPPORT OUR TROOPS' Martial Arts Convention on Saturday July 19th in St. Louis. Funds raised go to purchase and send care packages to our troops stationed in war zones. Event will be held at VFW Post 2184 at 6327 Lemay Ferry Rd, St. Louis, MO. 63129. For info, to participate or to help sponsor contact Ike Bear at ProfIkeBear@gmail.com or 314 353-8077.     The URL for the event is http://groups.msn.com/MartialArtsConvention2008StLouis