An old saying in martial arts self-defense is that you should keep your punches up and your kicks down. That is, don’t kick above the waist. Like most rules, this one has some exceptions.
For example, if you’re flexible and quick, there’s no reason not to follow a blitz with a roundhouse to the head. In keeping with the above rule however, I’d say at least avoid leading with a high kick.
If you want to follow the rule strictly, here are two great kicks for the street.
If you were to translated literally, Wing Chun means “beautiful springtime,” or “forever springtime.” Wing Chun is Romanized in several different ways “Wing Chun”, “Wingtsun”, “Ving Tsun” or “Wing Tsun.” In Wing Chun there are several ways of defeating the enemy: striking, kicking, joint locking, controlling, throwing and the use of weapons are the most common.
Have you seen the History Channel’s new show Human Weapon yet? Its pretty friggen good.
The concept is that these two athletic dudes (one an MMA fighter, the other a former football player and wrestler) travel all over the world to train with, and then test out various cultures’ martial arts. And while only two episodes have aired as of this writing, the show already has proven itself to be a very revealing diagnostic tool to those who are able to look beyond the romanticism and isolate the truth. Let me explain…
China has always held its own when it comes to martial arts. In fact, most consider china to be the pioneers in this field. They have a whole range of styles and forms in this arena and some that are not so well known but just as good. The most commonly known ones are Kung Fu and Tai Chi. But there are others like Hsing-I and the Shaolin style. China has been regarded as the founder of the martial arts for centuries now and they have brought about the concept of martial arts as a very dominant means of self defense, which ironically also teaches you how to live peacefully. Japan does have its own merit in this field but China is given the status of founder nation by most.
It is a little known fact that before the samurai of ancient Japan incorporated the sword into their martial arts training, the samurai practiced the classical fighting arts of the bow. The Japanese martial art of shooting a bow with incredible accuracy while on horseback became known among the samurai as “The Way of the Horse and Bow”. In the true fashion of the Japanese culture, they no doubt took a cue from the Mongolians and improved what another culture had to offer.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a West Point psychology professor, Professor of Military Science, and author “On Combat”, explains that there are three kinds of people in this world.
First are the sheep who live in ignorance and only want to enjoy life’s pleasures.
Then there are the wolves; those who prey on the sheep (criminals, terrorists, bullies, etc.)
Finally there are the sheep dogs. That is, the people whom protects the sheep from the wolves (martial artists, police officers, soldiers, etc.).
What to look for and how to prepare yourself, so you can confidently walk into a karate school and not only know what to expect, but know what to do!
People have practiced martial arts for thousands of years. There are many reasons why people practice martial arts and the reasons have changed and evolved over the years.
In times of war, it was the fighting skills learned from karate that were the main reason to train, in times of peace, health and character development took precedence and now we have the competition side of karate, which is huge!
Teaching martial arts and Zen meditation, people will often ask what one has to do with the other. Without going into a ten thousand word essay, let’s just say that Zen helps one be mindful of their surroundings and that obviously has benefits to effective self defense. If you are mindful and somewhat calm, you will be able to utilize the martial art training when attacked. If your mind is wondering you won’t see the attack coming. Very simple.
The most life threatening threat of all is a firearm threat. A lot of people teach you that you have no chance of surviving against a firearm, which is totally incorrect information. If you are about to die you will do whatever it takes to try and defend yourself, even if you die trying. Obviously, there is no defense if someone walks up behind and shoots you in the back of the head, just as there’s no defense should a sniper turn your skull to ‘pink-mist’ from a distance. But in close proximity hostage-type situations, or hold-up (robbery) situations there is an opportunity for defense.